Five newly published illustrated art books celebrate an intergenerational slate of Black artists. The volumes include the first monograph of Kenyan-American artist Wangechi Mutu and books dedicated to the work of Ming Smith and Romare Bearden. A collection of found photographs and contemporary Caribbean art are also explored:
Ming Smith: The Invisible Man
From 1988 to 1991, New York photographer Ming Smith made a moving series of photographs based the opening lines of "The Invisible Man," Ralph Ellison's landmark novel: "I am an invisible man. No, I am not a spook like those who haunted Edgar Allan Poe; nor am I one of your Hollywood movie etoplasms. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids, and I might even be said to possess a ming. I am invisible, simply because people refuse to see me." Part of the MoMA One on One Series dedicated to a single work from the museum's colection, this relatively small-format volume focuses on one image from the body of work, "Invisible Man, Somewhere, Everywhere" (1991), a moody street scene featuring a solitary figure. Authorized by photography curator Oluremi C. Onabanjo, the publication coincides with the exhibition "Projects: Ming Smith." Presented in collaboration with the Studio Museum in Harlem, the show opens at MoMA on Feb. 4.
