Vivian Browne and the Feminist Art Movement
Join us for an engaging conversation on Black feminist art and the legacy of Vivian Browne. Moderated by Adrienne L. Childs, co-curator of Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest, this panel will feature artists robin holder and Janet Olivia Henry whose works were included in Progressions: A Cultural Legacy, an exhibition curated by Vivian Browne at MoMA PS1 in 1986. This public dialogue will explore the Black feminist art scene and critically examine Vivian Browne’s artistic contributions and her place within this vital cultural movement.
About robin holder
robin holder (born 1952) is a contemporary American visual artist and activist. holder is known for her mixed-media printmaking and paintings which focus on themes of spiritual and racial identity, class, social justice, and personal experience. robin holder was commissioned to create several site-specific public art installations throughout the Northeastern United States, including New York City and New Jersey. A number of her two-dimensional works can be found in several collections, including the Library of Congress, the Washington State Arts Commission, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. robin has been involved in visual arts education for over forty years as an artist in residence, a mentor, program and curricula developer, funding panelist, consultant and grant writer for various cultural and educational institutions.
About Janet Olivia Henry
Janet Olivia Henry (b. 1947; East Harlem, New York) is an artist and educator who lives and works in Jamaica, Queens. She was educated at the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology and received a fellowship in education from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In partnership with filmmaker Linda Goode Bryant, Henry designed and produced Black Currant, a magazine highlighting the experimental work of artists showcased at Just Above Midtown (JAM). She was a member of the Women’s Action Coalition (WAC), a feminist open alliance that sought to address issues of women’s rights through direct action. She participated in WAC’s drum corps and currently co-leads a Project EATS drumming group. Henry is a life-long educator and has worked at the New York State Council on the Arts, the Studio Museum in Harlem’s education department, the Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, the Lower Eastside Girls Club, the Children’s Art Carnival, and the Brooklyn Heights Montessori School.
Henry has presented solo and two-artist exhibitions at Gordon Robichaux, New York; STARS, Los Angeles; Hollybush Gardens, London (two-artist with Cynthia Hawkins); P·P·O·W Gallery, New York; Just Above Midtown (JAM), New York; Lower Eastside Girls Club Community Gallery, New York; Cedar Crest College, Allentown, PA (curated by Cynthia Hawkins); John Jay College, New York; Hallswalls, Buffalo, NY (curated by Sara Kellner); Pulse Art, New York; Seventh Second Photo Gallery, New York (curated by Wendy Tiefenbacher); Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY (curated by Olivia Georgia); Public Art Fund’s Messages to the Public, New York; Basement Workshop, New York; and The Exhibitions Gallery, Jamaica, NY. Henry’s work has been featured in numerous group exhibitions including at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; New Museum, New York; Studio Museum in Harlem, New York; Brooklyn Museum, New York; Buffalo AKG Art Museum, Buffalo, NY; Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; California African American Museum, Los Angeles; Queens Museum, New York; Newark Museum, NJ; Matthew Marks Gallery, New York; a. SQUIRE, London; Candice Madey, New York; A.I.R Gallery, New York; and Artists Space, New York.
Her work has been reviewed and featured in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Artforum, ARTnews, Hyperallergic, Flash Art, Frieze, Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, and Smithsonian Magazine, and BOMB among others. Henry’s work is held in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art, New York; The Dorsky Museum at the State University of New York, New Paltz, NY; and the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles.
IMAGE: Vivian Browne in her studio with Little Men and Africa Series, 1974, Photo: Jeanie Black
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