Ringgold was a longtime activist who fought to bring the work of Black people and women into American museums
Faith Ringgold’s art on display at Bergen Gallery at BCC in Paramus
Gwenette Reese talks about her longtime friend artist Faith Ringgold, who has an exhibit on display at Bergen Community College.
Tariq Zehawi, NorthJersey.com
Faith Ringgold, a pioneering multi-media artist known for her colorful story quilts depicting Black life in America, changed the art world over her seven-decade career. The renowned painter, sculptor, writer and activist died Saturday at her Englewood home at age 93, according to reports.
Throughout her career, Ringgold explored themes of race, gender, class and community through paintings, sculpture, quilts, masks and dolls. She was also a longtime activist who fought to bring the work of Black people and women into American museums.
Artists and aficionados from across the world paid tribute to Ringgold, who was originally from Harlem and moved to Englewood in 1992.
“Ringgold was a visionary who seamlessly wove together personal narratives, collective histories, and social justice advocacy in her work,” the New Museum in New York City wrote in an online tribute. “Her career bridged the vibrant energy of the Harlem Renaissance with the urgent political art of contemporary Black artists working today, many of whom cite her as inspiration.”
In the 1970s, Ringgold began to embrace quilting as an artform after seeing Tibetan Buddhist paintings on fabric called thangkas. “I wrote my words on the quilts when I couldn’t get my autobiography published, not realizing I created a unique medium all my own,” she told The Record last year.
Her first story quilt, “Who’s Afraid of Aunt Jemima?” retold the story of the pancake icon, casting her as an entrepreneur instead of the stereotypical Black “mammy.”
“Tar Beach,” among her most famous works, depicts evenings on city rooftops from a child’s point of view, where families held parties, picnicked and slept. The piece was the basis for her beloved book “Tar Beach,” the first of her 21 children’s books, that has become a staple in American classrooms.
Her story quilt, “Coming to Jones Road,” depicted the resistance and racism she faced when moving from Harlem to Englewood. Neighbors tried to block her construction of a new studio, on the grounds that it would be a disruption to the neighborhood, Ringgold recalled.
“Coming to Jones Road” exhibited at Bergen Community College last year as part of a part of an artistic package that also included a jazz suite in her honor, a children’s craft program and an oral history project.
Ringgold’s work has been shown at the White House and in museums and galleries around the world. Her art is also in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, among other institutions.
