Dearly Beloved or Unrequited? To Be ‘Black’ in Art's Histories

Abstract

Guided by Stuart Hall's essay ‘Black Diaspora Artists in Britain: Three “Moments” in Post‐War History’ (2006), this special issue looks closely at the multi‐faceted genealogies of Black British modernism since the arrival of the ‘Windrush generation’. It brings together a range of essays in different formats by artists and art historians on topics and methods that have been central to the AHRC‐funded Black Artists and Modernism project from which it emerges. In particular, the introduction centralizes the lack of attention paid to the material and conceptual nature of artworks made by Black British artists, and asks how a reappraisal of their work can contribute to an expanded understanding of modernism. Re‐evaluating David Medalla's participatory artwork A Stitch in Time (1967–72), which originated in the late 1960s but has since taken on multiple lives in various locations across the globe, we consider why and how it continues to be occluded from orthodox narratives of conceptual art.