Dr. Shawnya L. Harris is the Larry D. and Brenda A. Thompson Curator of African American and African Diasporic Art at Georgia Museum of Art. She earned her Ph.D. degree in art history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has curated several exhibitions and is the former director of University Galleries at North Carolina A&T State University. Her research interests include modern and contemporary arts of the African diaspora and issues related to art collecting and patronage.
Explosions of color signify a landscape, real or imagined
Taking the name from Toni Morrison's debut novel, this painting's figures and scenes show the clash of innocence and the adult violence of bigotry and hatred
This swaying juke joint belies its purpose as the central meeting place enlivened by music and dance in many African American communities, but its jubilance is tempered by the painting's ominous atmosphere