**Ticketholders may view the exhibition prior to the reading.**
With poetry that reveals and revels in the history and experiences of African Americans, Tyehimba Jess and Robin Coste Lewis bring their award-winning work to respond to the masterwork of Jacob Lawrence. Jess’ first book of poetry, leadbelly, was a winner of the 2004 National Poetry Series. His honors include a 2004 Literature Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and a 2006 Whiting Fellowship. Olio is his most recent collection. He is an Associate Professor of English at College of Staten Island.
Robin Coste Lewis is a Provost’s Fellow in Poetry and Visual Studies at the University of Southern California. She received her MFA in poetry from NYU, and an MTS in Sanskrit and comparative religious literature from the Divinity School at Harvard University. A finalist for the Rita Dove Poetry Award, she has taught at Wheaton College, Hunter College, Hampshire College, and the NYU Low-Residency MFA in Paris.
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE: BEAUTY AND STRUGGLE IN JACOB LAWRENCE'S MIGRATION SERIES
October 8, 2016 – January 8, 2017
The Phillips Collection and Museum of Modern Art reunite Jacob Lawrence’s masterwork The Migration Series, the seminal 60-panel work by one of the most celebrated African American artists of the 20th century. Shaped by an interdisciplinary team of scholars, this exhibition provides multiple perspectives on the historical, literary, socio-cultural, aesthetic, and contemporary manifestations of migration that underlie Lawrence’s visual narrative. The Phillips is a leader in the study and presentation of Lawrence’s art, organizing retrospective presentations of the artist’s work, producing national arts-integrated teaching curriculum, and recording and archiving two definitive interviews with Lawrence on his art and life before his death.