Living with Art is a rare opportunity to experience the full scope of 20th Century art through the works of some of the greatest names in African-American art.

Drawn entirely from the collection of Alitash Kebede, an Ethiopian-born, Los Angeles collector, this exciting traveling international exhibition includes 74 works by 37 of the most important African American artists from the modern and contemporary periods.

It features Norman Lewis, Charles Alston, Palmer Hayden and Lois Mailou Jones from the Harlem Renaissance period (1920s and 1930s) while artists Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, Alma Thomas, Charles White, and Elizabeth Catlett, are included in the group who were active during the Works Progress Administration era in the 1940s. Contemporary artists include Herbert Gentry, Richard Mayhew, Ed Clark, Mel Edwards, Al Loving, Bill Hutson, Betye Saar and her daughters, Alison Saar and Leslie Saar.

Jacob Lawrence, Harlem Street Scene, Silk screen 1975

Acknowledged as among the finest private art collections in theUnited States, the collection features a wide variety of styles, subjects and media ranging from portraits, landscapes and abstracts to sculptures and mixed media collages.  

Alitash Kebede was exposed to art in her home as a child and as a teenager, the turning point in her life came when she attended an exhibition of Ethiopian-born modern painter, Skunder Boghossian, at Addis Ababa University.  Bhogohssian, who was trained in Paris, is known for his abstractions based on the symbols and material culture from his native Ethiopia as well as the Black Diaspora.

In the 1970s Kebede went to study in the United States. She minored in studio art at Lindfield College in McMinnville, Oregon and then moved to Los Angeles, to attend graduate school at UCLA. In the early 1980s she took frequent trips to New York to pursue her interest in art. During this period she met many artists including Vincent Smith, Ed Clark, Herbert Gentry and the Ethiopian-born artist Elsabeth Atnafu.  In 1982 Kebede met her hero, Skunder Boghossian in Washington, D.C. She purchased one of his paintings and started her collection. 

After attending college in the United States, she began to collect seriously and now owns more than 100 works. It is Kebede's loveof art and her desire to expose young people and others to the joy she has experienced collecting and living with the art thathas inspired her to make her collection available for this traveling exhibition.

Living with Art illustrates the many influences and identities that contribute to the spectrum of works by African-American artists. In a 2002 essay A Look Beyond Content: The Collection of Alitash Kebede, art historian Dr. Lizzetta LeFalle-Collins wrote: “Works of art by African Americans, like the artists themselves, have often been classified under one sweeping view. Some contend that it must somehow “look Black” and be created from the specific experience of being Black in America. Yet the critical thinker realises that works of art by African Americans, like the people themselves, does not fit within a monolithic definition, character, or identity. And like African American people, it is very diverse within the ethnically Black population.”

Living with Art is organised by Landau Traveling Exhibitions, Los Angeles, CA and generously sponsored by the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs, HSBC Bank of Bermuda, Bank of Bermuda Foundation and Friends of Living with Art

Bermuda Collection:
350 Years of Art in Bermuda
The Ondaatje Wing

Lynne Morrell, Bermudian born 1951, Neighbourhood, 2004 fabric, thread, 50 x 55 inches, Collection of BNG.

Presented as an historical timeline, our permanent exhibition follows the artistic, historical and cultural development of Bermuda through its decorative and fine arts from 1624 to the present day. The Gallery’s Permanent Collection is complemented by significant private loans focusing on Bermuda’s early decorative arts of furniture and silverwork. The care of the Bermuda Collection for 2006-07 is kindly sponsored by Mr. Robert Steinhoff and the late Mrs. Pat Steinhoff.

Richard Saunders, Bermudian, 1922-1987,Emperor Haile Selassie, Bermuda, 1963, silver print, 9 x 13 inches
Collection of BNG.

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