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Moses Myers House

323 E. Freemason St.
Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Reading Room
Wednesday-Friday
10 a.m.–5 p.m.

About the Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and Zinnia Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Wedding & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

In-person Tours

Group tours are available for groups of 20 or fewer. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Visiting Artist Series

Bringing the world’s top glass art talent to Hampton Roads
Find out more

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Give the Chrysler Experience

Share everything you love about the Chrysler Museum with a gift membership. Perfect for everyone on your list.

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

Moses Myers House

323 E. Freemason St.
Open Saturday and Sunday

Noon–5 p.m.

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Reading Room
Wednesday-Friday
10 a.m.–5 p.m.

About the Myers House

The oldest Jewish home in America open to the public as a museum offers a glimpse of the life of an early 19th century merchant family.
More about the house

About the Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Art Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

Located in Norfolk

One Memorial Place,
Norfolk, VA
Get Directions

While You're Here

Visit our Museum Shop
and Zinnia Cafe.

Perry Glass Studio

A state-of-art facility on the Museum’s campus. See a free glassmaking demo Tuesdays–Sunday at noon. Like what you see? Take a class with us! More about the Studio

The Myers House

The home of the first permanent Jewish residents of Norfolk, this historic house offers a glimpse of the life of a wealthy early 19th-century merchant family.
More about the house

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

With an extensive collection of more than 106,000 rare and unique volumes relating to the history of art, the Jean Outland Chrysler Library is one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the Library

Wedding & Event Rentals

The perfect place for your big day or special event. Get the details

In-person Tours

Group tours are available for groups of 20 or fewer. More about tours

Jean Outland Chrysler Library

Visit one of the most significant art libraries in the South. More about the library

About the Chrysler

Our story spans well over 100 years. See where we began, how we grew, and where we're going. Explore our history

News and Announcements

See what's happening at the Museum, read Chrysler Magazine, and find our Media Center. Read now

Location

One Memorial Place
Norfolk, VA 23510

Location

745 Duke Street
Norfolk, VA 23510
757-333-6299

Always Free Parking

Get Directions

Visiting Artist Series

Bringing the world’s top glass art talent to Hampton Roads
Find out more

Studio Team

Meet the brilliant minds behind the Studio.
See the team

Give the Chrysler Experience

Share everything you love about the Chrysler Museum with a gift membership. Perfect for everyone on your list.

The Masterpiece Society

Learn about this innovative group of museum supporters.
Meet the Masterpiece Society

Planned Giving

Help ensure the long-term success of the Museum.
Learn about planned giving

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ArtExhibitionsPast

30 Americans

On View

March 16, 2012 — July 15, 2012

Location

Past Exhibition

Masterpieces of Contemporary African-American Art

From Robert Colescott and Jean-Michel Basquiat to Kehinde Wiley and Nina Chanel Abney, 30 Americans surveys the most significant artistic contributions of the past three decades. Drawn from the Rubell Family Collection in Miami, this exhibition brings together 75 works by African-American artists who work within a variety of mediums. While some works probe the notion of racial and social difference in a gritty, direct manner, others evoke universal concepts and emotions using a sophisticated blend of visual beauty, humor, and irony.

 

Kehinde Wiley, Equestrian Portrait of the Count Duke Olivares, 2005, oil on canvas.

Kehinde Wiley, Equestrian Portrait of the Count Duke Olivares, 2005, oil on canvas.
Iona Rozeal Brown, Untitled

30 Americans is unique in that it allows several generations of artists to intermix in interesting ways. While some artists, (such as Carrie Mae Weems, Robert Colescott, Purvis Young, Nick Cave, William Pope L., Kerry James Marshall and Barkley Hendricks) grew up admist the Civil Rights and Black Power movements of the 1960s and ’70s, others continue to live within its aftermath. David Hammons, Lorna Simpson, Kara Walker, Carrie Mae Weems and Glenn Ligon opened up new dialogues in conjunction with the multiculturalism and identity politics discourse of the ’90s.

 

Iona Rozeal Brown, Untitled (after Kikugawa Eizan’s “Furyu nana komachi” [The Modern Seven Komashi]), 2007, acrylic and paper on wooden panel.

More recently, Wangechi Mutu, Iona Rozeal Brown, Mickalene Thomas, Shinique Smith, Rashid Johnson and Kalup Linzy have gained notoriety in the contemporary art scene for their demonstration of a wide range of visual and conceptual strategies. Nick Cave’s lyrically elaborate sound suits combine a variety of disparate materials in unique and beautiful ways. Their departure from our everyday environment suggests a time and place where race and gender doesn’t really matter–where people are just people. Iona Rozeal Brown’s transnational paintings blend African-American and Asian cultural attributes and reference the appropriation of hip-hop style among Japanese youth. Known as the ganguro, or literally, “black face,” these teenagers dress in funky clothes, dye and weave their hair into cornrows and darken their skin at tanning salons or with makeup. Brown traveled to Japan in the late 1990s and her fascination with this style inspired this particular body of work.

 

Robert Colescott, Listening to Amos and Andy, 1982, acrylic on canvas.

Robert Colescott, Listening to Amos and Andy
Robert Colescott, Saturday Night Special (I Seen it on T.V.)

Several of the artists rework and manipulate history in interesting and thought-provoking ways. Glenn Ligon’s work pushes the boundaries of Conceptualism into a socio-political realm. Ligon’s paintings incorporate phrases and text from diverse sources from famous 19th-century abolitionist Sojourner Truth to the stand-up comedian, Richard Pryor. In his photographs, 34-year old artist Rashid Johnson mines the past in search of his own self-identity, portraying himself as abolitionist Frederick Douglass. Barkley Hendricks’ powerful portrayals of African-American subjects merge the long-standing tradition of portraiture with a striking sense of urban realism. The self-assured, confident stance, as well as the dignity and beauty of his subjects are carried over into Mickalene Thomas’s glitzy and alluring paintings of contemporary women. At once seductive and empowered, Mickalene’s portraits speak to a woman’s roles in our post-feminist world. In the words of Art Historian Darby English, some of the 30 Americans artists seem to question, “what becomes of black art when black artists stop making it?”

 

Robert Colescott, Saturday Night Special (I Seen it on T.V.), 1988, acrylic on canvas.

More special exhibitions

On view right now

Painting of parents and child on floral background
Through March 31, 2024

Hampton Roads Student Gallery
Exhibition Details

Intricate glass vessel. A speckled dragon, spirals up the stem creating a handle.
Through August 18, 2024

Fantastic Creatures of the Venetian Lagoon: Glass 1875-1915
Exhibition Details