Western Artists/African Art - Museum for African Art exhibit, New York, NY

Washington, D.C., resident Renee Stout searches African art for her self: "As an African American, I want to explore what being an African is, and, being an artist, the first place I'm going to look is in art." Stout fits perfectly within "Western Artists/African Art," an exhibition organized by the Museum for African Art in New York City.

The exhibition explores the influence of African art on contemporary Western artists, such as Stout; Martin Puryear, who perceives in functional African objects an "enormous visual power beyond their own right"; and Richard Serra, for whom African artworks reveal a "hidden potential of sculpture and other objects beyond their original purpose."

Organized in conjunction with the museum's 10th anniversary, "Western Artists/African Art" displays 46 African artworks from the collections of 28 artists. Installed with each piece is a photograph of how and where the art is normally "exhibited," along with text comments by its owner about its significance. Other participating artist-lenders include Terry Adkins, Arman, Francesco Clemente, Mel Edwards, Helen Frankenthaler, Howardena Pindell, Jasper Johns, Lorna Simpson and Fred Wilson.

"Western Artists/African Art" has been extended through November 6 at the Museum for African Art, which also presents "Exhibition-ism: Museums and African Art," beginning October 14. "Western Artists/ African Art" later travels to the Knoxville Museum of Art in Tennessee and the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, Calif.

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