Jacob Lawrence and the Unfinished History of American Inequality

"Jacob Lawrence's 'Migration' series of 1940-41 gives distinctive visual form to masses of people uprooting their lives to move elsewhere, confronting both the causes and the repercussions of such demographic phenomena."

"Lawrence addressed the racial inequalities and social fissures on which the US was built, depicting the types of political violence that were either fully in the open or festered just below the surface."

"The retrospective 'Jacob Lawrence: African American Modernist' at Kunsthal KAdE in Amersfoort surveys almost the entire scope of his oeuvre, including major print cycles alongside never-before-seen documentary ephemera."

"Curator Robbert Roos employed a simple yet effective solution to engage Dutch visitors who were likely unfamiliar with many of the historical, political, and cultural references that undergird Lawrence's work."

Jacob Lawrence's 'Migration' series visually represents the experiences of people uprooting their lives, highlighting racial inequalities and social issues in America. His work responds to political violence and injustices faced by marginalized groups. A retrospective of his work, 'Jacob Lawrence: African American Modernist,' opened in Amersfoort, Netherlands, showcasing his complete oeuvre. The exhibition aims to educate Dutch audiences unfamiliar with the historical context of Lawrence's art, despite the irony of it not being held in the US where it is most relevant.

Read at Artforum