Lamont Gallery presents “Emma Amos: Heroes and Folk”

Muse (Picasso), 1997 Acrylic and African commemorative fabric on linen (60” X 32”), photo by Becket Logan, © Emma Amos

Exeter, NH (November 12, 2009)—From Monday, November 16 to Saturday, January 23, the Lamont Gallery at Phillips Exeter Academy will present Emma Amos: Heroes and Folk, an exhibition of paintings, installations, prints and woven works. An Opening Reception will be held on Friday, January 8, 2010, 6:30-8 p.m.; a Gallery Talk will be held on January 9, 10 a.m. The Lamont Gallery is in the Frederick R. Mayer Art Center on Tan Lane. All events are free and open to the public.

Born in Georgia in 1938, Amos began painting and drawing at the age of 6. She graduated from Antioch University in Ohio, and in 1959, earned a degree in etching from the London Central School of Art. One year later, after moving to New York and becoming a teaching assistant at the Dalton School, Amos held her first solo art exhibition in Atlanta. In 1961, she began working as a designer/weaver, creating rugs for Dorothy Liebes, a renowned American textile designer and weaver. In 1964, Amos enrolled in New York University’s graduate school and earned a degree in art education. She also was invited to join a group of black artists known as Spiral that included Romare Bearden, Norman Lewis and Charles Alston. In Spiral, Amos was the youngest and only female member.

In 1966, she earned her master’s degree from NYU and began focusing on sewing, weaving, quilting and doing illustrations for Sesame Street magazine. Eight years later, Amos began teaching at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, and in 1977, co-hosted the launch of “Show of Hands,” a TV crafts show for WGBH-TV in Boston, MA. From 1980–2008, she taught at the Mason Gross School of Art at Rutgers University, where she served as department chair for two years.

Muhammad Ali, 1998 Acrylic on linen, silk satin and Kente (45” X 58”), photo by Becket Logan, © Emma Amos

Amos’ work has been shown throughout the U.S. and around the world. It is included in art collections from the Museum of Modern Art, the Wadsworth Athenaeum, the New Jersey and Minnesota state museums, and the Dade County and Newark museums. Solo and group exhibits have been featured at the Arizona State University Art Museum, Tempe, AZ; Civil Rights Museum, Birmingham, AL; Shifflett Gallery, Los Angeles, CA; The Pump House Gallery, Hartford, CT; Thomasville Cultural Center, Inc., Thomasville, GA; Baltimore Museum of Art, Baltimore, MD; Flomenhaft Gallery, New York, NY, and many others.

She received the 2004 Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art/College Art Association, and the 2002 James Van Der Zee Award.

“Many of my paintings, prints, and photographic installations mean to connect more than one form of knowledge or experience with the images within the work. I hope that the subjects of my paintings dislodge, question, and tweak prejudices, rules, and notions relating to art and who makes it, poses for it, shows it, and buys it. The work reflects my investigations into the otherness often seen by white male artists, along with the notion of desire, the dark body versus the white body, racism, and my wish to provoke more thoughtful ways of thinking and seeing. Yes, race, sex, class, and power privileges exist in the world of art,” Amos says.

Gallery hours during the school year are: Monday 1-5 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; closed Sundays and school holidays. The Gallery will be closed the week of November 23-29, 2009, and December 21, 2009, through January 3, 2010. For further information, contact the Lamont Gallery at 603-777-3461. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call 603-777-4330. For more information on other events, visit the Academy’s community calendar, or contact the Phillips Exeter Academy public events line at 603-777-4309, or visit the Academy website at Phillips Exeter Academy. For directions to Phillips Exeter Academy, call 603-777-4330.