Featuring a selection of works by African American artists acquired by the Gibbes for its permanent collection over the last ten years, this exhibition reflects on the Gibbes collecting efforts since the opening of Prop Master: An Installation by Juan Logan and Susan Harbage Page in 2009.
The artists' provocative installation ten years ago was designed as a “museum intervention” to highlight the role the institution played in shaping social norms and reinforcing power structures within the community based on what it chose to collect and exhibit and, perhaps more importantly, what works and narratives were excluded.
Since the close of the Prop Master exhibition nearly ten years ago, the museum has added 28 new works by African American artists, including David Driskell, Sam Doyle, Leo Twiggs, Kara Walker and Mary Jackson.