Artist: Derrick Adams
Location: The Museum of Arts & Design (MAD)
Dates: January 25, 2018 – August 28, 2018
Ever heard the term “driving while Black”, or DWB? Baltimore-born, turned New York City-based Black artist Derrick Adams explores this concept with Sanctuary, his solo exhibition at the Museum of Arts & Design in Manhattan.
It takes place in the late 1950s, a time where traveling and the automobile industry was booming. In 1956, the Interstate Highway had just been created, making it easier for everyone to travel around the country…. everyone but Black Americans.
Jim Crow laws and violent white supremacist organizations like the Ku Klux Klan dominated the Southern states, while racial discrimination and even “sundown towns“, were still in full effect up North. Sanctuary used The Negro Motorist Green Book as a blueprint; the walls are covered in newspaper pages that advertise safe businesses that will welcome traveling Blacks into their establishments.
Join Our Circle
Derrick Adams incorporates playing cards, leather rings and plastic handles over a wooden canvas in Join Our Circle.
Illuminated homes are scattered throughout the Sanctuary exhibition. This symbolizes a welcoming community that will open its doors to Black passerby.
There’s More Than One Beauty School
