Art in black women's hands

Reviewed by Dodie Bellamy Sunday, February 27, 2005 Creating Their Own Image The History of African-American Women Artists By Lisa E. Farrington OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS; 354 PAGES; $55 Edmonia Lewis (1843-1911) was one of America's pre-eminent sculptors during Reconstruction, and her neoclassical masterpiece "The Death of Cleopatra" was exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876. It survives to this day only because a racetrack owner bought it to use as a tombstone for one of his favorite steeds. In 1972, a fireman, taken by its beauty as it stood in a machine yard in a Chicago suburb covered with grime, lobbied for its restoration. Finally, in 1987, more than a century after its creation, conservators discovered it was Lewis' lost "Cleopatra." Black women artists, argues Lisa Farrington in her new book, "Creating Their Own Image,'' have never had it easy, and they are still struggling for acknowledgement and representation. "Creating Their Own Image" is the first comprehensive history of African American women artists. Farrington, who is the author of "Art on Fire: The Politics of Race & Sex in the Paintings of Faith Ringgold," finds it "unpardonable" that such a history has not been written sooner. Historical surveys can be tedious and stodgy, but Farrington's personal engagement in her subject matter and her emotional investment in the politics of race, gender and personal expression make "Creating Their Own Image" an exciting -- and disturbing -- read. Full Review: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/27/RVG1PBDAAV1.DTL&type=books