“Because I Wanna Fly,” 2021, by Whitfield Lovell (Photo courtesy Virginia Museum of Fine Arts)
Beginning June 17, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will showcase the work of Bronx-born MacArthur Fellowship recipient Whitfield Lovell, whose drawings, assemblages of found objects and multisensory installations examine collective memory by breathing new life into photographs taken of African Americans during the 100 years that followed the Emancipation Proclamation.
A walk through this exhibition, “Whitfield Lovell: Passages,” concludes with an installation that grew out of a six-week residency at Richmond’s Hand Workshop Art Center (today the Visual Arts Center of Richmond) in 2001. During the residency, Lovell worked with Virginia Commonwealth University painting and sculpture students to pay homage to the early vibrancy of the Jackson Ward neighborhood.
Curator Alexis Assam says, “The choice to end the exhibition with ‘Visitation: The Richmond Project’ is so that everyone who comes to see the exhibition leaves with Lovell’s beautiful work that has direct ties to Richmond on their minds.”
“Passages” continues through Sept. 10. Tickets, which also include entry to the special exhibition “Benjamin Wigfall and Communications Village,” are $12, or $8 for ages 7-17 and 65-plus (museum admission is free).
