Sometimes comedy and the arts speak to social issues that mainstream society would rather not discuss. The exhibit “Dark Humor: African American Art from the University Museums, University of Delaware,” which is on view at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington through Sept. 25, is one such example.

The exhibit features 19 paintings, prints and objects drawn from the University Museums’ African American art collection and the Delaware Art Museum’s contemporary art collection.

The works, produced between 1970-2008, were selected by Tiffany Barber, the Delaware Art Museum’s 2015 Alfred Appel Jr. Curatorial Fellow who is currently pursuing her doctoral degree at the University of Rochester in New York.

Barber said she enjoyed working on a project relating to her scholarly interests and her passion for museum education.

“I was inspired by the similar themes and the time period from which they were produced,” Barber said. “As you can see in the show, there is a concentration of work produced between the mid-to-late 1990s which suggests shifting ideas about the relationship between race and representation at the turn of the 21st century.”

The show includes works by Camile Billops, David Hammons, Barkley Hendricks and Peter Williams, UD professor of art.

Heather Campbell Coyle, curator of American art at the Delaware Art Museum, said that the strain of dark humor that Barber explores in the show is provocative and rich, and has a strong connection with signature works in the museum’s permanent collection including Big Bathers: Another Judgement by Robert Colescott and Birth of the Mammy I by Joyce Scott.

“I’m interested in the way these artists use images and text to question the stereotypes and associations with blackness that persist in American culture,” Coyle said. “Humor is a powerful political tool, one that historically was deployed against African Americans,  and these artists turn that legacy on its head.”

Coyle said she also was particularly awed by the way Williams replicates and indicts the material culture of racism in Absolutely Hilarious, with images of the tin mammy doll, Aunt Jemima and Felix the Cat.

“This is the signature image of the show — the work is beautifully painted and the colors are luscious. You can’t take your eyes off it,” Coyle said. “The imagery is challenging and some of it is elusive — what exactly am I looking at, and in what way could it be construed as ‘absolutely hilarious?’”

Viewers also are finding the show to be visually appealing and intellectually challenging, Coyle said.

“I was in the museum when the show opened, and everyone walking by the gallery was drawn in,” Coyle said. Once they entered the gallery, they were talking to each other, reading the labels and trying to parse what they were seeing.”

Museum partnership

Julie L. McGee, curator of African American art at University Museums, said that working on the project with staff members from both University Museums and the Delaware Art Museum was a great way to showcase the growing collection of works of African American artists acquired through the generosity of donors, including those in UD's Paul R. Jones Collection.

“One of the works in the show, Birth of the Mammy I, a sculpture by Joyce Scott, was previously shown in UD’s Mechanical Hall Gallery in 2008, on loan from the Delaware Art Museum,” McGee said. “Barber’s focus on art that deploys subversive humor to question the currency of cultural and racial stereotypes reminds us of the agency and necessity of the arts and its makers.”

The partnership with the Delaware Art Museum also underscores the educational value of UD’s collections beyond the Newark campus.

“When Paul R. Jones gifted his collection to UD, he stressed the importance of making it available to other institutions in order to broaden knowledge of University Museums collections in general and, more specifically, of the African American artists represented in it,” said Janis A. Tomlinson, director of University Museums. “We are delighted that this partnership with the Delaware Art Museum provided an opportunity to present works from the collection to a wider audience.”

Trevor A. Dawes, vice provost for libraries and museums and May Morris University Librarian, noted that the Delaware Art Museum continues to be a great partner and is returning the favor with loans to the the University Museums' upcoming exhibition, “Illustrating Shakespeare.”

“We always welcome opportunities for UD to share treasures from its collections and to collaborate with institutions beyond campus,” Dawes said. “Such collaborations enrich the cultural life of Delaware, and having just arrived, I look forward to more in the future.”

Alfred Appel Jr. Curatorial Fellowship

The Delaware Art Museum offers an annual two-month curatorial fellowship for graduate students working toward a museum career. The fellowship honors Alfred Appel Jr., a leading scholar of American studies and a collector of modern prints and photographs. The focus of the fellowship changes each year based on institutional need. For more information, visit the museum website.

Sponsors

“Dark Humor: African American Art from the University of Delaware” is organized by the Delaware Art Museum. Support is provided by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events at the Delaware Scene website.

About the Delaware Art Museum

Founded in 1912, the Delaware Art Museum is best known for its large collection of works by Wilmington native Howard Pyle and fellow American illustrators, a major collection of British Pre-Raphaelite art, and urban landscapes by John Sloan and his circle. Visitors can also enjoy the outdoor Copeland Sculpture Garden and a number of special exhibitions throughout the year.

The Delaware Art Museum is located at 2301 Kentmere Parkway and is open Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Fridays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museums is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Admission fees are charged as follows: Adults (19-59) $12, senior adults (60-plus) $10, students (with valid ID) $6, youth (7-18) $6, and children (6 and under) free.

Admission fees are waived Thursdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. thanks to support from generous individuals.

For more information, call 302-571-9590 or 866-232-3714 (toll free).