ONE OF THE MOST STRIKING PAINTINGS in the exhibition “30 Americans” is by Nina Chanel Abney. It’s a compelling work, depicting her MFA class at Parsons School of Design in New York. The artist is a bespectacled, gun-toting blonde; Her classmates don prison-issue orange. Bright with color, countless details, and provocative metaphor, the monumental painting stands nearly 10 feet high and measures about 15 feet wide. Abney painted “Class of 2007” nearly a decade ago for her thesis show. It was the only work she presented and it set the course for her career. The painting gained the notice of Kravets Wehby, the New York gallery that still represents her today, and the Miami collectors Donald and Mera Rubell purchased it. The following year, in 2008, the painting was included in the inaugural exhibition of “30 Americans” alongside works by African American artists Abney had studied in school. The traveling show featuring works from the Rubbell Family Collection by critically recognized contemporary artists such as Kerry James Marshall, Glenn Ligon, David Hammons, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Noah Davis, Robert Colescott, Lorna Simpson, Rashid Johnson, Henry Taylor, and Abney, has recently been presented at the Detroit Institute of Arts and […]
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