Contemporary Black artists claim their place in the world in ‘30 Americans’ exhibit at NBMAA

When a person wears one of Nick Cave’s famous Soundsuits, which cover a body from head to toe, nobody can tell what their race is. Many, including their creator, find that liberating, an opportunity to escape stereotyped expectations. Other artists prefer to show their Black faces, and the faces and bodies of other Black people, front and center, to claim the place they deserve in society, in history and in art.

Two of Cave’s Soundsuits and 68 other works by Black contemporary artists make up a new exhibit at New Britain Museum of American Art. Portraiture and human representation dominate “30 Americans” as the 30 artists assert their right to be in a milieu — art museums — that historically either excluded them or allowed only white artists to interpret their existence.

One of the artists, Kerry James Marshall, writes in his statement, “Presence is a prelude to power.”

“Figure representation is crucial to my goal because a critical mass of multinational and multiracial images in museums and art history, produced by artists of color, can correct an imbalance that suggests only white artists produce important, and meaningful, work,” Marshall writes.

Marshall’s work, from his “Vignette” series, places a Black couple in a romantic setting. The two hold hands surrounded by roses, hearts and a sunburst, their love etched into the bark of a tree, a house in the background. Is it their house? One likes to think so, considering that in the real world, redlining would have prevented a real-life Black couple from living in such an idyllic place.

Perhaps the most well-known contemporary Black artist, Kehinde Wiley, also puts Black folks where they have been excluded before, as did his most famous portrait subject, President Obama. One of Wiley’s “Rumors of War” painting shows a handsome young Black man in a red hoodie and Nikes on a charging white horse, wielding a lance. Wiley’s massive, majestic painting, in an ornate gold frame, is a reworking of “Equestrian Portrait of the Count-Duke of Olivares” by 17th-century Spanish royal court painter Diego Velázquez.

Another Wiley, three different views of the same young man, was inspired by a mugshot. Mugshots could be interpreted as the ultimate example of how the white gaze distorts interpretations of Black people. Wiley turns that on its head, setting his young man against the artist’s trademark sumptuous background, in three different poses, all of them respectful of the dignity of this young man.

The classic odalisque painting — an almost entirely white artistic subgenre that reflected standards of beauty for centuries — is reinterpreted in Mickalene Thomas’ diptych “Baby I Am Ready Now.” A brightly dressed, sequined black woman stares into the distance contemplatively, while lounging on a sofa piled with patterned blankets and pillows. It hangs next to Thomas’ “Portraits of Quanikah,” a grid of 15 sparkling interpretations of one woman, showing a wide range of emotions: joy, worry, defiance, ferocity, sadness, anger.

It isn’t just white artists whose work is reinterpreted by the paintings, sculptures, photos, videos and assemblages in “30 Americans.” Rozeal’s artworks reinterpret classic Japanese ukiyo-e images of beautiful women, fierce warriors and noble men. Rozeal changes their skin color and inserts references to African American and hip-hop culture.

In his photographs, Rashid Johnson creates an alternate universe where Black people have their own secret society, “New Negro Escapist Social and Athletic Club.” Johnson casts himself in the role of one of the members of that club, who dresses up in tennis duds as “the Black Jimmy Connors” and gazes out through a haze of smoke, emphasizing the fantastical unreality of Johnson’s world.

Xaviera Simmons also places herself at the center of her photographs. Four pieces from her “One Day and Back Then” and “American Book Covers” shows her, sometimes in blackface, in places where Black subjects are rarely seen: rural pastoral settings.

“Who, historically and traditionally, gets to exist in the sublime with regards to landscape photography and landscape painting?” Simmons asks in her artist statement. “How might our entire history have been different had America fulfilled its emancipatory promises to its freed slaves and their descendants instead of commemorating its defeated Confederate planters?”

The artworks in the show don’t just celebrate Black identity. Some recount Black heartbreak. Hank Willis Thomas, whose work references advertising and marketing and its effects on self-image, created a tragic parody of the old MasterCard “Priceless” ad campaign. The photographic image of Black folks in mourning is captioned “Suit $250. New socks $2. Gold chain $400. 9mm pistol $80. Bullet 60 cents. Picking the perfect casket for your son: Priceless.”

Noah Davis’ painting “For My Father” was created after Davis’ father died. A young Black man, his back to the artist, gazes into a dark, starry sky holding a fading lantern. Davis himself died young, succumbing to cancer at age 32.

An entire wall in one gallery is taken up with one of Kara Walker’s famous silhouette artworks. Walker’s black cut-outs reimagine Victorian-era imagery to reflect Black existence and experience. This work, “Camptown Ladies,” takes the nonsensical old minstrel song, which was originally written to be performed by white performers in blackface. Walker reinterprets the lyrics as a series of characters. The collection of images can be perceived in a variety of ways, as can the lyrics of the tune by Stephen Foster, a 19th-century composer known for his stereotypical depictions of Black people.

Other artists in the show are Nina Chanel Abney, John Bankston, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Mark Bradford, Robert Colescott, Leonardo Drew, Renée Green, David Hammons, Barkley L. Hendricks, Glenn Ligon, Kalup Linzy, Rodney McMillian, Wangechi Mutu, William Pope.L, Gary Simmons, Lorna Simpson, Shinique Smith, Henry Taylor, Carrie Mae Weems and Purvis Young.

All of the artworks are on loan from the Rubell Museum in Miami. The show has been on the road all over the country since 2006, but this is its first stop in the Northeast.

The exhibit’s guest curators are Dann J. Broyld, associate professor of African American History at UMass Lowell; Nicole Stanton, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and a professor at Wesleyan University in Middletown; and Dr. Brittney Yancy, assistant professor of humanities at Goodwin University in East Hartford.

30 AMERICANS is at New Britain Museum of American Art, 56 Lexington St., until Oct. 30. Hours are Tuesday to Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15, $12 seniors, members and children younger than 18 free. Saturday admission from 10 a.m. to noon is free. On Thursdays, the museum is open until 8 p.m. and admission after 5 p.m. is $5. nbmaa.org.

Susan Dunne can be reached at sdunne@courant.com.