Rhapsodies in Black

The selection of artworks in Rhapsodies in Black exemplifies the lasting impact jazz has had on Black American artists into the present. At midcentury, songs by musicians including Alice and John Coltrane, Thelonius Monk, Sun Ra, and later Nina Simone became the soundtrack of a generation. This expansion of jazz coincided with an emergence of modern, and increasingly abstract, approaches to art making. Though Black artists at this time were often expected to create representational and political art, many went against the grain, taking up the expressive brushstrokes and rhythmic lines of abstraction inspired by the era’s music. Artists were particularly drawn to free jazz—a looser, improvised subgenre that had emerged in the late 1950s—in which they found a sense of liberation, spirituality, and transcendence.

Featuring a 1977 painting by Sam Gilliam alongside works by contemporary artists, this exhibition highlights the freedom of expression afforded by jazz and abstraction. With selected jazz songs playing in the gallery, the exhibition offers an immersive, intimate experience of art and music that speaks to the enduring influence of the genre.

Rhapsodies in Black is curated by Patricia Lee Daigle, Ph.D., Chief Curator, with support from Adeze Wilford, Blackmon Perry Curator of African American Art and Art of the African Diaspora.

All exhibitions at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art are underwritten by the MBMA Exhibition Fund: Lead support provided by Kay Clark, and Maggie and Milton Lovell, with additional funding from Anonymous, Irene and Ron Ayotte, Gloria and Kenneth Boyland, Deborah and Bob Craddock, Susan and James Edelman, Debi and Galen Havner, Sally Hergenrader, James R. Humphreys, Betty and George Johnson, Kristen and Jay Keegan, Valerie and Carl Person, Deborah D. Tipton, Bill Townsend, and the Doris S. and Hubert Kiersky Charitable Remainder Trust.