The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is spotlighting the work of Elizabeth Catlett, an heroic artist once banished by the U.S. government, who used her craft to challenge discrimination during segregation and the Cold War.
The exhibition highlights how Catlett merged politics and art to make bold statements on race, gender and equality.
“One of the things that we really sought to show was the breadth of Catlett’s career,” said Lynn Matheny, curator at the National Gallery of Art. “We have really early works done as a student all the way through her last sculpture.”
Catlett, who was born in D.C., spent much of her life in Mexico. She reimagined the representation of Black women, as seen in her Motherhood series. Her work was so politically charged that the U.S. government once declared her “an undesirable alien,” leading her to remain in Mexico until her passing in 2012.
