Black Pulp!—a show opening this Tuesday, 19 January, at the Yale School of Art’s 32 Edgewood Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut—brings together 90 years of art and print media that confront and subvert racist depictions and stereotypes of African Americans. “The pulp attitude is to take the tragic and painful points of history, like Jim Crow and the Vietnam War, and challenge them through biting humor, satire, and wit,” the exhibition’s co-curator, the artist and Yale lecturer William Villalongo, explained in a statement. The 65 pieces on show include archival material like literary journals and comics, as well as works by contemporary artists such as Kara Walker, Renée Cox, Kerry James Marshall and William Pope L. that continue the conversation. These contemporary pieces “offer critical rebuttals to a history of derogatory images of the black body”, the show’s other co-curator, the Yale alumnus Mark Thomas Gibson, said in a statement. The gallery will host a public opening reception this Thursday, 21 January, and “Black Pulp!” will remain on view through 11 March.
