by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Thirty years ago, attorney Larry Thompson and his wife, Brenda, began collecting work by African American artists. Since they purchased their first painting, their collection has grown to more than 400 pieces and each was chosen for the same reason.
“We bought what we liked,” Brenda Thompson said Thursday morning at the Museum of Contemporary Art. She was there to watch the finishing touches go on the museum’s new exhibit, “Tradition Redefined: The Larry and Brenda Thompson Collection of African American Art,” which opens today.
“It’s gratifying to know our collection has merit,” added Thompson.
The exhibit consists of 72 paintings and sculptures by 67 artists at the David C. Driskell Center for the Study of the Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and the African Diaspora at the University of Maryland, College Park.
Curated by the Driskell Center’s Curator-in-Residence, Adrienne L. Childs, the exhibit presents the diversity of the collection that spans from the 1890s to the present. Artists represented include Amiri Baraka, Romare Bearden, Camille Billops, Joseph Delaney, Norman Lewis, William T. Williams and Hale A. Woodruff.
The collection has become well known in part because of its attention to artists who have typically not been represented in other collections.
“The Thompsons have collected works by celebrated artists as well as artists who have been considered emerging, regional or lesser-known. The result is a collection that redefines the landscape of American art, offering a more in-depth, inclusive understanding of African American artists and their aesthetic and social concerns,” said MOCA Director Deborah Broder.
Thompson said she and her husband both inherited their sense of heritage from their parents. Her husband, PepsiCo’s general counsel, worked at a law firm in Atlanta early in his career that had an extensive collection of art by Georgia artists. That’s when the couple began their acquisitions.
Over the years, she said, “we learned to expand our eye. There are beautiful pieces beyond what’s well-known or perceived to be valuable.”
Thompson said she has enjoyed creating a personal connection with many of the artists.
“We like to acquire work by living artists because it lets us get to know them and how they work,” she said. “There are many layers in our collection. Each piece has a different style.”
Two of the artists represented in the exhibit have local connections. Jacksonville native Mildred Thompson has an international reputation for her abstract works, several of which are part of the exhibit.
A painting by David C. Driskell, who is regarded as the leading authority on African American art and one of the most recognized living African American painters, is also on display. In January he was named the recipient of the Martin Luther King Award by the Ritz Chamber Players, the Jacksonville-based African American chamber music ensemble.
The museum has collaborated with other arts venues to celebrate African American artists and their work. While the Thompson collection is exhibited at MOCA, the LaVilla Museum is exhibiting a juried show of local African American professional artists titled “Through Our Eyes 2009-2010: Each One Teach One: The Artist as a Mentor.”
The Art Center Cooperative in conjunction with the Jacksonville Consortium of African American Artists is featuring a show of works by local art educators and students titled “Traditions Explained: A Visual Expression.”
Debra Murphy-Livingston, chair of the Department of Art and Design at the University of North Florida, will present two lectures: “Art Matters: Radcliffe Bailey: The African American Narrative” on May 5 and “Context and Meaning in the Tradition Redefined Exhibition of African American Art” May 13. Both presentations are in the MOCA Theater.
Thompson said she encourages the community to visit MOCA and experience the works she and her husband have collected.
“We hope they will see some things they think are beautiful and enjoy the variety of ways artists of color work,” she said.
The exhibit is in the third-floor gallery at MOCA through Aug. 29. Call 366-6911 or visit www.mocajacksonville.org for ticket information.
Brenda Thompson
356-2466