Robin Holder’s ‘Reclamation’

On Jan. 20, 2010, a special preview reception launched the opening of “An American Consciousness: Robin Holder’s Mid-Career Retrospective,” the new collection featured in the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art. Solely composed of work by Robin Holder, a mixed heritage Russian-Jewish and African-American artist raised in New York City, the exhibit will remain in the Spelman museum until May 15. Celebrated as an amazing display in an innovative series by Anne Collins Smith, museum curator of Collections, the collection is semi-autobiographical.

“Through the examination of her life experiences and perspectives, Robin Holder’s work is personal, yet it appeals to the universal,” said Smith.  “The artist aesthetically brings together the many layers and textures of the human experience.”

Featuring 65 works, including series such as “What’s Black and White and Red All Over?  An African American Russian Jewish Red Diaper Baby,” the exhibition is an in-depth examination of Holder’s three decades as a printmaker.  Among the other series featured are “Warrior Women Wizards: Mystical Magical Mysteries and Reclamation,” which is dedicated to the election of the first African-American president of the United States, Barack Obama. Holder said that during the election, she felt she had to put everything else on hold and make a contribution to the fervor of the time. “The election of Barack Obama as the 44^th president of the United States is about us, remembering who we are and recuperating the potential of our own promise,” explained Holder.

Known for her use of stencil, Holder adds textures, layers and colors to create her multidimensional works.  One such piece, “One of

a Few,” is a part of the series “What’s Black and White and Red All Over?” and is a chalk-like take of an African-American school girl standing between two White children. The words “always one of a very few brown-skinned children in the class” are written in cursive across the bottom of the piece. This sort of presentation is representative of Holder’s common practice, intertwining words and art to produce a powerful effect on the viewer.

During the exhibit, there will be several events for patrons and visitors including an interactive gallery walk led by museum director Andrea Barnwell Brownlee (Feb. 9); an interactive children’s day (March 20); a gallery walk of “Warrior Women Wizards” by Smith (March 26); and a gallery walk by graduate assistant Maurita N. Poole, highlighting the way anthropology is involved in the works (April 7). — Khadijah Robinson, C’2011

View a slideshow of Robin Holder’s artwork and the preview reception.