Multidisciplinary artist Amanda Williams’ long-running oeuvre, “What Black Is This You Say,” pairs abstract watercolor, mixed media and oil paintings with satirical writing to celebrate and challenge viewers’ ideas of Blackness.

The latest iteration of the Chicago-based creative’s work is “We Say What Black This Is,” an exhibit currently showing at the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art.

Arranged by Spelman’s curator-in-residence Karen Comer Lowe, Williams’ works are displayed in conversation with pieces on loan from collectors, as well as Spelman and Clark Atlanta University’s art museum permanent collections. They include creations from artists Beverly Buchanan, Sam Gilliam, Deborah Roberts, Sam Gilliam, and 2022 Spelman graduate Ming Washington.

While the artwork is the engine of the show, it is driven by the words of Atlanta University Center students who wrote didactic labels interpreting the featured pieces after completing a course centered around Williams. The effect is a personifying of the “We Say” in the collection’s title.

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