Posing Beauty in African American Culture

October 5, 2024–January 12, 2025 | Fifth Third Gallery and Taft Historic House

Posing Beauty in African American Culture traces the relationship between African American beauty and visual culture from the 1890s to the present through documentary, commercial, and fine art photography. Documentary photographs and portraits of portraits of Black Americans—some famous, some just ordinary citizens—present the public face of African American beauty, while commercial photographs demonstrate how fashion and advertising have constructed beauty standards. Finally, contemporary photographers—some of whom use themselves as a subject—encourage consideration of how images of beauty impact mass culture and individuals.

Posing Beauty includes more than 100 works by photographers including Charles “Teenie” Harris, Leonard Freed, Anthony Barboza, Carrie Mae Weems, Hank Willis Thomas, Sheila Pree Bright, Renee Cox, Mickalene Thomas, and others. Organized by Curatorial Assistance Traveling Exhibitions and curated by Deborah Willis, PhD, one of the nation’s leading historians of African American photography and culture, the exhibition will challenge existing notions of beauty while encouraging consideration of race, class, and gender within art and popular culture.

DAILY ADMISSION FREE SUNDAYS & MONDAYS

Admission is free for Taft members, guests of members with guest pass, military, and youth (17 and under); $15 for adults; $12 for seniors. Save on tickets when you buy online. Includes admission to special exhibitions and the museum’s collection galleries. Sundays and Mondays are FREE!

Carrie Mae Weems (born 1953), I Looked and Looked but Failed to See What So Terrified You from The Louisiana Project, 2006, digital prints. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery, New York

Lauren Kelley (born 1975), Pickin’, 2007, color-coupler print. Courtesy of the artist

Omar Victor Diop (born 1980), Jean-Baptiste Belley, 2014, inkjet pigment print on Hahnemuhle paper, edition of 8 + 2 AP. ©Omar Victor Diop, Courtesy of Galerie MAGNIN-A, Paris

Jamel Shabazz (born 1960), Drama and Flava from Back in the Days, 2000, color-coupler print. Courtesy of the artist

Charles “Teenie” Harris (1908–1998), Mary Louise Harris on Mulford Street, Homewood, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1930–39, gelatin silver print. Courtesy of the Carnegie Museum of Art, Charles “Teenie” Harris Archive, Heinz Family Fund, 2001.35.8275

Renée Cox (born 1960), Chillin’ with Liberty, 1998, archival digital print. Courtesy of the artist

Experience the Exhibition

Enjoy special tours, behind-the-scenes insights, and more during this unique exhibition!

Renée Cox (American, born Jamaica, 1960), Baby Back from American Family, 2001, Archival digital prints Courtesy of the artist

Frame|Work Blog

5 Curator Favorites in Posing Beauty in African American Culture

On a time crunch? Here are five must-see works in our special exhibition Posing Beauty on view October 5, 2024–January 12, 2025.

LEARN MORE

Sensory Explorations

Every Second Sunday

1–3 p.m.

Use senses like touch and hearing to experience the museum's collection and exhibition gallery spaces with our specially trained educators. Tools like 3-D printed reproductions, fabric samples, and soundscapes offer a new multi-sensory adventure at the Taft.

This is a FREE event! No registration required. This program is developed specially for visitors with low or no vision, but all guests are invited to participate.

REGISTER FOR FREE ADMISSION

Questions? Contact education@taftmuseum.org.

Special thanks to Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired for providing the 3-D reproductions.

Posing Beauty in African American Culture is curated by Deborah Willis
and organized by Curatorial Exhibitions, Pasadena, California.

Support for this 2024 FotoFocus Biennial exhibition was provided in part by FotoFocus.

Posing Beauty in African American Culture is part of the 2024 FotoFocus Biennial: backstories.

The FotoFocus Biennial, now in its seventh iteration, activates over 100 projects at museums, galleries, universities, and public spaces across Greater Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus, and Northern Kentucky in October 2024. Each Biennial is structured around a unifying theme; the 2024 theme, backstories, focuses on stories that are not evident at first glance. They offer context for what happened previously or out of view, providing narratives not yet told or presented from a new perspective. Once told, they shed light on current circumstances and events.

FotoFocus welcomes global artists, curators, critics, educators, and visitors to Cincinnati with exhibitions, talks, performances, screenings, and panel discussions during its Opening Program Weekend, September 26–September 28, 2024.

Exhibition Sponsor

Elizabeth & Paul Sittenfeld

Exhibition Support Generously Provided By

Ellen and George Rieveschl Endowment
Warrington Exhibition Endowment
Chellgren Family Endowment
Sallie Robinson Wadsworth Endowment for Exhibitions