Curator Naomi Beckwith reflects on the exhibition.
Transcript:
When I arrived at the Guggenheim, "Tar Beach" was the number one work that my colleagues and fellow
staff members requested to show. What this shows was the popularity of this work, not only because of its significance as an artwork, but because it is the cover of a book by the same name. I, and many people, came to Faith Ringgold's work as a child, as a child who saw the story and stories of Cassie Louise Lightfoot in the many books that Faith Ringo published alongside her visual arts career.
I'm so thrilled to have this work in the collection and to have the opportunity to have it on view as part of the "Collection in Focus" series because it allows space for people across generations to connect with this work in person and connect with this brilliant narrative that Ringgold was able to generate from this series of story quilts.
