A persistent debate surrounds exhibitions like “Young, Gifted and Black,” a traveling showcase of contemporary Black artists currently installed at the Vicki Myhren Gallery on the University of Denver campus.
It’s a similar discussion that accompanies any show these days that is “all” — that is, all one gender, one geography, one side of a political issue. While the dialogue can sometimes be fraught with insensitive language and troubling insinuations, it is a real and unavoidable filter through which people experience work presented in this manner. It is good, at this point in the progress of inclusion, to acknowledge it.
The show has some merit in that way, serving as a primer on an essential aspect of American art. Spend an hour at the Vicki Myhren Gallery and you can get a quick overview of who and what has resonated with curators and collectors, and who may be coming next. You may arrive knowing about Lorna Simpson, Nari Ward and Henry Taylor. But maybe you will learn about Gerald Sheffield, Chiffon Thomas and Tunji Adeniyi-Jones, if you do not know them already.
The exhibition features two such works: a 1995 paper collage by Walker, and Marshall’s 1996 “Den Mother,” an acrylic and charcoal portrait. Both pieces rely heavily on the color black and both are in line with the style of art-making that these two famous artists are known for. But that is exactly what makes art interesting and new. It is not the artists who follow in footsteps that change art. It is the ones who find their own paths and who demonstrate true originality. Wycoff’s theory is not airtight, but it creates a sensational frame for seeing this exhibition.