The Brooklyn Museum is set to host an exhibit dedicated to the art of Elizabeth Catlett, a
sculptor and printmaker whose work focused on social justice for Black women and Mexican women.
The retrospective exhibit, “Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies,” will be on display at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art from Sept. 13 this year to Jan. 19, 2025. It will feature over 150 works of art by Catlett.
These include some of the artist’s earliest paintings, sculptures and prints. The exhibit will also have on display a never before seen sketchbook from 1944. Throughout her career, Catlett used her art to advocate for both racial justice and feminism by documenting the Black American experience, creating lithographs of Black women along with Mexican women.
The exhibit is also expected to be accompanied by a book under the same title which celebrates Catlett’s work as an artist-activist and the influences that helped shape it.
“She has been overlooked in mainstream art world circles,” said curator Catherine Morris per Observer. “While being fully celebrated in the communities that were most important to her, such as those of Black Americans, who often were not included in the mainstream art world at the time.”
Have a sneak peek at ELIZABETH CATLETT: A BLACK REVOLUTIONARY ARTIST AND ALL THAT IT IMPLIES, edited by Delila Scruggs! And check out the accompanying exhibition that will travel to @BrooklynMuseum, @NGADC, and @ArtInstituteChi.https://t.co/Pk9YNiarOW pic.twitter.com/HCA0NqUkQY
— UChicagoPress (@UChicagoPress) August 14, 2024
Born in Washington D.C., Catlett became a Howard alum in 1935 when she graduated with a BS in Art, eventually becoming the first woman to get a MFA for sculptures from the University of Iowa. After moving to Mexico in 1947 where she met and married Francisco Mora, Catlett’s work covered both the culture and hardships of Black Americans and Mexican communities.
Through works such as “Black Unity,” the artist used sculptures as a medium to explore Black power, replicating the raised fist of trailblazers such as athlete Tommie Smith at the 1968 Olympics.
Catlett emphasized the experiences of Black women in works such as “Mother and Child,” creating lithographs of trailblazers such as Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman and Phillis Wheatley. The artist was also involved in the suffrage movement in Mexico, creating art for the group Unión Nacional de Mujeres Mexicanas.
“Inspired by sources ranging from African sculpture to works by Barbara Hepworth and Käthe Kollwitz, Catlett never lost sight of the Black liberation struggle in the United States,” said a representative from the Brooklyn Museum in the introduction to the exhibit. “Characterized by bold lines and voluptuous forms, her powerful work continues to speak directly to all those united in the fight against poverty, racism, and imperialism.”
