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Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press

An art print with a man gazing solemnly to his right.

An art print with the word theater and fire imagery.

On view December 15, 2023 – March 24, 2024

Personal to Political: Celebrating the African American Artists of Paulson Fontaine Press features over 40 fine art prints by African American artists who have helped to shape the contemporary art conversation in the Bay Area and beyond.

There is no singular way to address the conversation of race and representation in contemporary art. The African American artists of Personal to Political visualize their personal narratives and political battles by reflecting a collective experience in uniquely individual ways.

The exhibition features many well-known national artists, including Kerry James Marshall, Martin Puryear, Edgar Arceneaux, Radcliffe Bailey, David Huffman, Gary Simmons, and the Gee’s Bend quilters, who tell their complex stories through art. New work by Woody De Othello, William Scott, and Gee’s Bend artist Essie Bendolph Pettway has also been added to this refreshed version of the traveling exhibition. Dynamic both visually and conceptually, the exhibition includes print interpretations of Gee’s Bend quilts, fantasy narratives, and critical examinations of the past.

Drawing from Berkeley-based Paulson Fontaine Press’ vast collection of fine art prints, the exhibition was organized by the Bedford Gallery at the Lesher Center for the Arts in Walnut Creek, California.