Art series portrays history, experiences of Black women in the US

Hazel Hoffman, Contributing Writer

The True F. Luck Gallery at the Visual Arts Center on Main Street presents Veronica Jackson’s exhibition “A CONSTELLATION OF BLACKNESS” from Sept. 13 through Sunday, Oct. 27. It’s a collection of artworks in series representing personal and shared experiences as well as histories of Black women in the United States.

The artist behind the exhibition, Veronica Jackson, is also a public historian, a role which motivates her to share stories and information that have been lost or withheld and bring undersung history, especially of Black women, to the forefront of her work, she said.

Jackson said being a public historian holds special significance to her as a Black woman as enslaved people were historically kept from learning to read or write for fear that knowledge would drive a push for freedom.

“Using information as a weapon is something that I am totally against,” Jackson said. “The reason that I am a public historian is because I want to teach people about information — I want to avail them of the information that they weren’t taught in a public education system,” Jackson said.

Information is more accessible than ever, Jackson said. We are also seeing more misinformation than ever, and this collection is an accumulation of true history and research for people to see and learn from.

“The more we know — especially about cultures that we’re not familiar with or people we’re not familiar with — the more that we can make informed judgments for ourselves,” Jackson said. “Maybe we understand that we’re more alike than we are different as human beings.” 

One of the things she enjoys about storytelling through visual arts and diverse media is the way the medium and materials play a part in the story, according to Jackson. By warping expectations of what glasswork and screenprinting look like, she can bring extra dimensions to the artwork as viewers have to look closer to decipher the materials.

“Understanding the materials that you use to make something is very important,” Jackson said.

Jackson wants to learn how to manipulate materials in new and unfamiliar ways, she said.

Jackson experimented with paper, glass, silkscreening and more within the several series of work on view at the Visual Arts Center, she said.

Jackson said visualizing her feelings of invisibility and seeing her work manifest through the showcase was refreshing and rewarding. 

“Constellation of Blackness — they are different forms of Blackness but they are connected, right?” Jackson said. “The invisibility, the hypervisibility, the devaluation and the triumph — those four things are different, but they’re connected and they come together to make this body of work — this constellation of feelings, emotional experiences, histories.” 

Within the exhibition, Jackson said she explores her personal and familial history and experiences in the realms of visibility, invisibility and hypervisibility as a Black woman in America.  

Julia Chance, co-curator of the exhibit, got involved with the exhibition over the course of Jackson’s residency at VisArts this summer, she said. Jackson’s exhibition and art are important as people look back at history and correct things that were left out — particularly about women and minorities — and give them the light they deserve.

Jackson’s “BLACKTIVISTS” series is an especially clear example of rediscovering and revitalizing history, Chance said. The series is a collection of portraits of Black women activists from the 1850s to mid-1900s combining silkscreening and glasswork.

“Most of them were born or became activists not long after the civil war,” Chance said. “Some of them were born into slavery and they became activists at a time when as women it wasn’t safe to do that — as Black women it wasn’t safe to do that.” 

Another series that focuses on Jackson’s own family, “THAT’S POP’S MONEY,” is a collection of debossed time cards representing the unpaid labor of Jackson’s grandmother while married to her grandfather, visualizing the value of that work and effort, Chance said.

“A CONSTELLATION OF BLACKNESS” left her thinking about what it has historically meant in the United States to be a woman and specifically, a Black woman, Chance said.

“Women set out to live as freely as possible under circumstances that weren’t good for women, and I’ve been thinking about that a lot,” Chance said. 

That feeling has been shared with visitors throughout the showing, bringing them closer to a not-so-distant future where the Blacktivists and featured Black history is well known and celebrated, Chance said.

Arden Shostak, exhibitions and residencies coordinator at VisArts, said Jackson was the most prolific artist to take residency at VisArts and all involved were honored and proud to be a part of the show.

“Veronica makes such impactful and beautiful work exploring not just her experiences as a Black woman in America, but also doing archival research and uplifting understudied historical Blacktivists,” Shostak said.

Shostak said it’s vital to uplift and celebrate the art and voices of marginalized groups at the VisArts Center. He said it’s special that Jackson’s “BLACKTIVISTS” series shares that spotlight with historically undersung Black changemakers in history.

Shostak said the response to the series exhibition has been moving, especially to student groups that come by to see the art and participate in workshops afterward, working with elements Jackson used like printmaking.

One of the pieces that particularly resonated with student groups reads, “Proud to be a ___.” Shostak said it’s been exciting to see the ways that students connect to the prompt.

“It’s really empowering to see and the sense of empowerment is really present as you move through the gallery,” Shostank said. 

Jackson has an upcoming exhibition at the University of Virginia beginning on Nov. 5 through Nov. 25, titled “Languages of Invisibility and Devaluation.”