Essex Hemphill: Take care of your blessings
This exhibition charts the intertextual relationship between the writings of poet and activist Essex Hemphill (1957-1995) and contemporary visual art. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Washington, DC, Hemphill emerged as a luminary in the DC arts scene in the 1980s and 90s. Essex Hemphill: Take care of your blessings explores the work of visual artists who knew or collaborated with Hemphill during his lifetime or created work decades later that speak to his writings. The result is in an intergenerational dialogue that spans time, media, and place.
Featured Artists
Sharon Farmer
Lyle Ashton Harris
Sir Isaac Julien
Clifford Prince King
Glenn Ligon
Tiona Nekkia McClodden
Richard Bruce Nugent
Shikeith
Joyce Wellman
Lyle Ashton Harris, Essex, LA Contemporary Exhibitions, Los Angeles, 1992, 2015
This exhibition is organized by The Phillips Collection.
Essex Hemphill: Take Care of Your Blessings is made possible by Teiger Foundation.
Presented with the essential support of the Carolyn Alper Fund for Contemporary Art and The Marion F. Goldin Charitable Fund.
IMAGE: Shikeith, Visiting Hours, 2022, Archival inkjet print on Photo Rag Baryta Paper, 49 x 60 in., Courtesy of the artist
Exhibition Catalogue
The exhibition will be accompanied by a richly illustrated catalogue published by The Phillips Collection and designed by Common Name LLC. The catalogue features contributions by exhibition curator Camille Brown, as well as the following noted professors and contemporaries of Hemphill: Brian Freeman, Maleke Glee, Dr. James Smalls, and Ajamu X (FRPS). The exhibition and catalogue also correspond with New Direction’s publication of Love is a Dangerous Word: the Selected Poems of Essex Hemphill, a compilation of selected writing from Hemphill’s only published full-length collection, long out of print. Available at the museum gift shop and online at shopphillipscollection.org.
