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Mike Henderson

Before the Fire, 1965–1985
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Mike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965–1985 is the first major exhibition and catalogue dedicated to the pioneering painter and filmmaker Mike Henderson. The collection spans two decades of his work, from 1965 to 1985, exploring provocative themes such as racial violence, heteromasculinity, and societal struggles through the lenses of protest, Afrofuturism, and surrealism. Henderson's art draws influence from Francisco Goya's stark depictions of humanity's horrors and Sun Ra's visionary hope for a Black future. A devastating studio fire in 1985 destroyed much of his earlier work, making this retrospective a vital survey of a transformative period in his career.
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Format: Hardback
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This catalogue will appeal to enthusiasts of contemporary art, social history, and African American cultural studies, as well as those interested in film and visual activism. It is particularly suited for readers engaged with themes of protest art, Afrofuturism, and the intersection of race and identity in late 20th-century America.

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"A monograph of paintings and films by Mike Henderson accompanying the artist's major retrospective exhibition "Mike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965-1985"--

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The first major exhibition and catalogue dedicated to the work of groundbreaking painter and filmmaker Mike Henderson.

Mike Henderson (b. 1944) is a painter, filmmaker, and professor emeritus at University of California, Davis. Published to accompany his first museum retrospective, this catalogue surveys Henderson’s paintings and films from 1965 to 1985, which are rooted as much in Francisco Goya’s horror of humanity as in Sun Ra’s hope for a new Black future. In the work of that time, Henderson depicted scenes of racial violence, heteromasculinity, and abject social conditions with force and unflinching directness.

In 1985, a studio fire damaged much of Henderson’s output from the previous two decades, obscuring vital ideas about a time of tumult and change, often referred to as a world on fire. Mike Henderson: Before the Fire, 1965–1985 addresses Henderson’s multifaceted art of that period, which examined and offered new ideas about Black life in the visual languages of protest, Afrofuturism, and surrealism.

Published in association with the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis

Exhibition dates:

Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art
January 29–June 25, 2023

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780520388055

Publisher: University of California Press

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 29 January 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: University of California Press

Illustration: 60 color illustrations

Contributors:

  • Edited by Dan Nadel
  • Edited by Sampada Aranke

Audience: Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 241.0mm

Height: 273.0mm

Weight: 953g

Pages: 128

Collections

Arts & Culture Education & Reference Non-Fiction

About the Author

Mike Henderson is a pioneering African American artist, filmmaker and musician, whose dynamic practice has spanned more than fifty years. Born and raised in Marshall, Missouri, he moved to the Bay Area to attend the San Francisco Art Institute in 1965. He has been the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship (1973) and two National Endowment for the Arts Artist Grants (1989, 1978), and he was recently awarded the 2019 Artadia San Francisco Award.

Sampada Aranke, PhD, is Assistant Professor in the Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Her work has appeared in e-flux, Artforum, Art Journal, ASAP/J, and October and in catalogues for Sadie Barnette, Betye Saar, Rashid Johnson, Faith Ringgold, and many others. Her book, Death's Futurity: The Visual Life of Black Power, will be published in February 2023.

 
Dan Nadel is former Curator at Large of the Jan Shrem and Maria Manetti Shrem Museum of Art, University of California, Davis. He has mounted exhibitions including What Nerve! Alternative Figures in American Art: 1960 to the Present; Gertrude Abercrombie; Kathy Butterly | ColorForm; and Chicago Comics, 1960s to Now. Nadel is the author and editor of several books, including Peter Saul: Professional Artist Correspondence, 1945–1976; The Collected Hairy Who Publications 1966–1969; and It’s Life As I See It: Black Cartoonists in Chicago, 1940–1980.

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