Current Exhibition

We Say What Black This Is, organized by the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art, is an exhibition of paintings by Chicago-based visual artist Amanda Williams in conversation with artworks by Black artists in Atlanta collections. Trained as an architect, Williams uses her expertise to interrogate systemic racism through the lens of spatial dynamics. The exhibition features oil and watercolor paintings from her series What Black Is This You Say?, which was created in response to “Blackout Tuesday,” the social media moment when people and organizations posted a solid black square in protest of police brutality in 2020. In response, Williams created a range of abstract paintings in the same square format as the Instagram grid, rich in texture and hue. Williams explores cultural, social, and political dimensions of Black identity in this series, particularly how Black spaces are formed, defined, and erased. Her playful titles are infused with Black vernacular and forge intimate connections with Black audiences, turning colloquial expressions into tools for critiquing oppressive systems and celebrating the beauty and complexity of Blackness. These abstract paintings by Amanda Williams are placed in conversation with works by Black artists from the Spelman Museum collection, Clark Atlanta University Art Museum, and other collections in Atlanta. 

The title of this exhibition, We Say What Black This Is, is a play on the title of the series of paintings by Amanda Williams that inspired the show (What Black Is This You Say?). The show title emphasizes a foundational aspect of the exhibition: the voices of students of the Atlanta University Center (AUC). Students from Spelman College, Morehouse College, and Clark Atlanta University helped develop thematic frameworks, engaged with the artist’s studio practice, and wrote didactic labels seen in the exhibition. The title also suggests an inquiry into the many definitions, interpretations, and representations of Blackness. It questions monolithic views and invites viewers to consider the diverse ways Blackness is lived, performed, and visualized. 

We Say What Black This Is includes works by Amanda Williams alongside Betty Blayton, Sheila Pree Bright, Beverly Buchanan, Beauford Delaney, Sam Gilliam, Maren Hassinger, Jacob Lawrence, Deborah Roberts, Thomas Sills, Alma Thomas, and Ming Washington to offer multifaceted perspectives on Black identity. Together, these works by Black artists deepen our engagement with themes present in Williams’ paintings, including abstraction, architecture, color, and re-interrogations of Blackness. The exhibition likely challenges the audience to think about how Black identity is shaped by history, culture, and individual experience and how these elements are communicated through this decidedly Black space, Spelman College.