Drawing upon previously unknown works and archival findings, this exhibition recovers the depth and variety of the more than three-decade career of Vivian Browne (b. 1929, Laurel, FL; d. 1993, New York, NY). The exhibition features paintings, prints, and works on paper across seven bodies of work, as well as ephemera that highlight Browne’s pioneering activism and influential teaching career. Browne was a founder of the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition, an organization that fought for Black representation in New York museums; a founder of SoHo20, one of the first women’s art cooperatives in Manhattan; and a professor at Rutgers University (1971–92). Her signature approach to color and form challenged the neatly defined categories of abstraction and figuration, and art and politics, revealing a more nuanced approach to art-making that is part of Browne’s unique contribution to 20th-century art of the US.

Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest is co-organized by the Contemporary Arts Center and The Phillips Collection (Washington, DC).

Major support for the exhibition tour and associated programs has been provided by the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Terra Foundation for American Art, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

Its presentation at CAC is supported by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the Wohlgemuth Herschede Foundation, and research for this exhibition was supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

CAC major annual operating support is provided by Jeff Ahrnsen, ArtsWave, Ronald Bates & Randy Lasley, Gale & Dave Beckett, Jim Cheng, Dr. Maria and Jonathan Espinola, Friedlander Family Fund, Andrew Howe Family Foundation, Steve Jemison & Phyllis McCallum, The Johnson Foundation, The Kaplan Foundation, Emily Kokenge, Bruce Lazarus & Phil Weintraub, Chuck Lohre & Janet Groeber, Rick Michelman & Karen Meyer, Emily Hanako Momohara & Shawn Newman, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Ohio Arts Council, David Osborn, P&G Fund, Kyle Pohlman, The Rosenthal Family Foundation, and Rosemary & Mark Schlachter.

Curated by

Amara Antilla and Adrienne L. Childs, Ph.D.