Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century

media release: Aug. 10-Nov. 10, Chazen Museum of Art, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Explore a pivotal yet often-overlooked period of cultural history in Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century. The exhibition is the first comprehensive pan-Nordic show to provide an in-depth look at the inspiration and reprieve Black artists found in countries such as Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Racism, love, sexual exploration, a thirst for adventure and a quest for new educational and career opportunities prompted the artists to look for experiences beyond the United States. While some visited to learn and perform, others relocated for a different life. Nordic Utopia? showcases the experiences and freedom Black artists found beyond the United States when they opted to experience life in Nordic countries instead of visiting Paris, which was common among creatives of that time.

Nordic Utopia? assembles more than 60 drawings, paintings, photographs, textiles, film, music and dance to explore how travel impacted some African Americans’ visual and performance art. New scholarship chronicles the experiences of singers Josephine Baker and Anne Wiggins Brown; jazz tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon; dancer and choreographer Doug Crutchfield; painters Herbert Gentry, William Henry Johnson and Walter H. Williams; multimedia artist and designer Howard Smith and others. The objects on view offer insight into their lives, the social climates in which they worked and the reasons they relocated.

The exhibition draws from several private and public collections across the United States and Nordic countries including the National Gallery of Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C.; the David C. Driskell Center at the University of Maryland, College Park; Moderna Museet in Stockholm and the National Gallery of Denmark in Copenhagen.

Several images in the exhibition are on loan from Danish photographer Kirsten Malone, who started documenting the Denmark jazz scene in the 1960s. Among them are photographs of Dexter Gordon, who lived in Denmark from 1962-1976; Babs Gonzales, a New Jersey native who split his time between Denmark and Sweden; and Leonard “Skip” Malone, an author and journalist who served as the Black Panther Party’s primary contact in Denmark.

The exhibition also features several works by Howard Smith, who first traveled to Finland for a U.S.-sponsored pro-capitalism cultural festival. Eager to escape racism at home, Smith found community in Finland. The New Jersey-born artist later settled there, where he worked in drawing, painting, silkscreen, textile and paper collage. Vibrant florals, birds and landscapes featured prominently in his works, nine of which are included in Nordic Utopia?

Works by William Henry Johnson, who moved to Scandinavia for love, demonstrate his developed affinity for primitivism and folk art that would impact his painting upon his return to New York in 1938. Abstract paintings by expressionist artist Herbert Gentry reveal inspiration from Copenhagen’s dynamic jazz scene.

Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century is co-curated by Ethelene Whitmire, a professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of African American Studies, and Leslie Anne Anderson, chief curator at the National Nordic Museum.

Whitmire was a Fulbright scholar and a visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Transnational American Studies in 2016-2017. She has received additional fellowships from the American-Scandinavian Foundation and the Lois Roth Endowment.

Anderson has been an American-Scandinavian Foundation fellow and a Fulbright scholar at the University of Copenhagen. She has organized over 20 exhibitions and has received the international Association of Art Museum Curators Award for Excellence in Exhibition and the Utah Museums Association Award for Excellence.

Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century is organized by the National Nordic Museum, Seattle.

Generous support for “Nordic Utopia? African Americans in the 20th Century” comes from The Terra Foundation for American Art, Laurie Black, Nordisk Kulturfond, Microsoft, Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, The Hugh and Jane Ferguson Foundation, ArtsFund’s Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheeff Fund for the Decorative and Design Arts and Finlandia Foundation National. At the Chazen Museum of Art, this exhibition is also supported by the Brittingham Trust, the Anonymous Trust Fund and the Wisconsin Arts Board.

Programming:

Curator Conversation Series Sept. 13 at 10 a.m., Oct. 18 at 4 p.m. and Nov. 8 at 10 a.m.: Join exhibition co-curator Prof. Ethelene Whitmire in the gallery for a conversation about “Nordic Utopia?” Whitmire, a professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of African American Studies, was a Fulbright scholar and a visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen’s Center for Transnational American Studies in 2016-2017.

Opening Reception Oct. 3 from 5-7 p.m.: The Chazen Museum of Art celebrates the opening of “Nordic Utopia?” with a tribute concert honoring Dexter Gordon, a tenor saxophonist who was a fixture in Copenhagen’s jazz scene. The evening will also include remarks by exhibition co-curators Ethelene Whitmire, Ph.D., a professor in the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Department of African American Studies, and Leslie Anne Anderson, chief curator at the National Nordic Museum.

“Cool Cats” Documentary Film Screening with director Janus Køster-Rasmussen

Oct. 4 at 5 p.m.

See the documentary that chronicles Dexter Gordon and Ben Webster’s time in 1960s Copenhagen. The film shares the story of how the musicians found creativity and an escape from racial discrimination there. Following the screening, film director Janus Køster-Rasmussen, will lead a discussion.