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The Amistad Collection:
giving birth on the deck of the ship, assisted by three other females who are also chained at the neck and ankles. The artist forces the viewer to conceptualize a bizarre, inhumane situation that today may seem impossible; unfortunately, millions of Africans were forced to deal with this and other daily atrocities during the hundreds of years of slavery. In the background are very close to this event, appear oblivious, probably due to the hopelessness of their plight. One lone female slave is on her knees, hand outstretched to the heavens, seemingly asking for divine intervention. Another telling sign of a damaged future appears a male slave hanging from the neck as the anchor of the ship and a newborn infant chained around the neck. |
photos by Jerry Jack |
The Amistad Collection is the brainchild of Michael Valentine, 29, an art show organizer. Mr. Valentine, an art lover, put the exhibition together over a five-month period. For years he has been purchasing paintings and drawings from black artists throughout New York City. His co-op in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York has been crowded with artwork for years. Mr. Valentine, who has no formal training in art, has been a collector since he was a teenager. Last September, he decided to exhibit the works in his collection along with newly commissioned works depicting the |
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Amistad revolt and the Middle Passage. With only two backers, Mr. Valentine mounted the exhibition with his own funds. He sees the exhibition as a more authentic approach to educating people about the Amistad revolt than the film version. The exhibition, he says, is all about education. "My goal is to educate people around history using art; at the same time, I want to create a showcase for the public and for art collectors."
Like many art collectors, Mr. Valentine is aware that black art is becoming a popular investment and that the value of black art has been on the increase. |
| The Amistad Collection is the latest in a series of major art events that have promoted African American art. "The Cosby Show" exposed America to works by artists of African descent. The Florida Endowment Fund bought The Barnett-Arden Collection of American Art for six million dollars in 1989. The National Black Fine Arts show, held in New York, attracted thousands including celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, who purchased works. |
But first, Mr. Valentine says, "I want to reach my people, to show them the beauty and the sorrow which is reflected in art by black artists." Valentine hopes that the artists whose works are displayed in the collection will be enthusiastically received and purchased by major museums and collectors as occurred with the Migration Series of Jacob Lawrence.
In conjunction with the exhibition, Valentine New York, Mr. Valentine's promotion agency has produced a video documentary, which records the making of the Amistad Collection. As with all this efforts, Mr. Valentine has attempted to use the best young black talent available. The cinematographer for the documentary is Kerwin Devonish, who has worked with Spike Lee, among others. Principal photographer of the project is Jerry Jack, whose works have graced hundreds of magazine covers and pages worldwide.
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