TOLEDO, Ohio — Beginning June 3, the Toledo Museum of Art will be showcasing the "Black Orpheus: Jacob Lawrence and the Mbari Club" collection as part of the museum's summer exhibition.
The 110-piece collection contains works of artist Jacob Lawrence's time in Nigeria.
Pieces will include paintings, sculptures, reliefs, and works on paper by Mbari Artists and Writers Club members, including Twins Seven-Seven, Muraina Oyelami, Asiru Olatunde and Jacob Afolabi.
“Black Orpheus emphasizes Jacob Lawrence’s global impact through his work and the work of other international artists who used visual arts to reframe their national and cultural identities as countries around the world established their independence," said Adam M. Levine, the Toledo Museum of Art’s Edward Drummond and Florence Scott Libbey director. "The Toledo Museum of Art is eager to share this vibrant and important exhibition with our Toledo audience and with the broader region."
According to the museum's press release, the exhibit showcases five different sections of art that chronologically goes through Lawrence's time in Nigeria.
"Black Orpheus: Jacob Lawrence and the Mbari Club showcases the ways in which the arts and culture journal Black Orpheus (1957–1967) promoted African art and literature internationally,” said Kimberli Gant, the exhibition’s co-curator. “It also allows us to explore the little-known time in Lawrence’s life when he traveled to Nigeria and it highlights a growing arts movement there driven by the Mbari Artists and Writers Club, whose members encouraged innovative approaches to art.”
The exhibit will run from June 3 until Sept. 3.
To learn more about the exhibit and the museum, visitors can call 419-255-8000 or 800-644-6862 or visit toledomuseum.org.
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