A new exhibition at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth depicts the realities of Black communities across America.
“Jammie Holmes: Make the Revolution Irresistible” is on display Aug. 11 to Nov. 26 at the Modern, 3200 Darnell St. This is the artist’s first solo museum exhibition.
Holmes, a Texas transplant, uses his art to reflect his upbringing in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and the Black experience in past and present-day America. For example, in “Just Like Your Father,” he portrays a mother holding her son. He is grieving and wearing a “Rest in Peace” shirt, an experience that has become commonplace in many Black families, Holmes said.
If you go
What: “Jammie Holmes: Make the Revolution Irresistible” exhibition
When: Aug. 11 – Nov. 26
Where: The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 3200 Darnell St., in Fort Worth
For Holmes, it’s important that his artwork reflects his childhood home and mirrors the realities of other Black families like his.
“I’m a stand-in for my city,” he said.
The artist is tapping into another layer of American culture, said María Elena Ortiz, the curator of the exhibition. “His paintings are a face of America we don’t often see.”
In his paintings, Holmes challenges stereotypes, explores masculinity and honors those who came before him.
In “Fred Hampton,” the artist honorsslain activist and a former leader of the Black Panther Party, Fredrick Allen Hampton. The painting is from the perspective of Holmes’ mother watching the civil rights leader on television. On top of the television, sits a photo of his younger self, his brother and sister.
The painting represents Holmes’ mother telling him to stand up for what is right, and he wants his audience to understand the people in his paintings exist. He wants them to be seen as human and wants his audience to see these real problems, he said.
“Ultimately, this is an American story,” said Ortiz. “It’s reflective of what many Americans have gone through.”
Marcela Sanchez is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at marcela.sanchez@fortworthreport.org or via Twitter. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.