Jo Fobbs

Jo Fobbs (California, USA)

harlem re:naissance, 2021

collage, glue stick, inkjet paper

16 x 20 inches

Harlem Renaissance is part of a series I created to recognize the impactful contributions of Black queer activists, artists, and performers, many of whom were queer. The underlying theme in these works is that each of the individuals depicted played a collective role in shaping black social movements, even if they may have had differing ideologies and bodies of work or lived in different parts of the world. My goal in this work is to bridge the past and present and see how we can gain inspiration from the work of our ancestors. A tribute to queer icons of the Harlem Renaissance. Featuring: Richmond Barthe, Lucille Bogan, Gladys Bentley, Countee Cullen, Alexander Gumby, Billie Holiday, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke, Claude McKay, Florence Mills, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Richard Bruce Nugent, and Ethel Waters.