Barbara Earl Thomas: The Geography of Innocence

Catharina Manchanda,Halima Taha,Barbara Earl Thomas

Barbara Earl Thomas: The Geography of Innocence
Format
Paperback
Publisher
Seattle Art Museum
Country
United States
Published
1 November 2021
Pages
80
ISBN
9780932216786

Barbara Earl Thomas: The Geography of Innocence

Catharina Manchanda,Halima Taha,Barbara Earl Thomas

Barbara Earl Thomas’s new body of work carries within it the sediments of history and grapples with race and the color line. At the heart of it lies a story of life and death, hope and resilience–a child’s survival. With her quietly glowing portraits of young Black boys and girls, Thomas puts before us the humble question: can we see, and be present to, the humanity, the trust, the hopes and dreams of each of these children?

The Geography of Innocence offers a reexamination of Black portraiture and the preconceived dichotomies of innocence and guilt and sin and redemption, and the ways in which these notions are assigned and distorted along cultural and racial lines. Two interconnected visual arguments unfold: a portrait gallery of children from the artist’s extended community and an illuminated environment that appears like a delicate paper lantern. To accompany the visual elements, the book’s essays examine Thomas’s work in the context of different art historical portraiture traditions and political relevance. Thomas also contributes an interview and an essay reflecting on the current climate in which the work exists.

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