“Lineage + Inheritance,” an exhibition of new artwork by four, Black visual artists based in San Diego, serves as a kind of dialogue between of different generations and their perspectives on what life is like right now for Black people.
These four artists — Domonique King, Jean Cornwell Wheat, Mensah Bey, and Andrea Rushing — work in media ranging from oil on canvas or hand-embellished acrylic prints on paper, to acrylic on board or wood, metal, yarn, and textiles. Wheat, 81, is a long-time artist and art teacher in San Diego whose work has been featured and displayed locally and purchased by some well-known names.
“Jean is a friend, a mentor who has become family, and I truly believe she is one of our region’s living legends. She’s a sculptor, painter, poet, educator, and at 81 years young, has self-identified as an artist for almost all of her life. The depth and breadth of her creative practice continues to blow my mind,” says Kamaal Martin, curator of this exhibition and a founding partner of Art Power Equity, an organization ing underrepresented artists. “She’s sold work to people like Stevie Wonder, Johnny Carson, Diana Ross, Yoko Ono … and has a recent piece in the permanent collection of the San Diego Museum of Art. Her ability to keep expanding the limits of the mediums she works with is absolutely brilliant.”
“Lineage + Inheritance” is on display at Art Produce in San Diego’s North Park neighborhood through April 19, with an artist talk event from 1 to 3 p.m. today. The exhibition is in partnership with the Black Studies Project at UC San Diego. Cornwell Wheat, who teaches at San Pasqual Academy, a boarding school for foster youth, and Martin took some time to talk about her work and the exhibition. (These interviews have been edited for length and clarity. For a longer version of these conversations, visit sandiegouniontribune.com/author/lisa-deaderick/.)
Q: What were you thinking about and looking for when you were figuring out whose work you wanted to feature in this exhibition?
Martin: The first questions I considered as I crafted the exhibition in my mind were material and physical: How much time do we have? How much space do we have? That informed my thinking about how to show and what to show. More importantly, why are we showing and who is it for? The constraints of time and space helped me frame the idea of a small group of artists, particularly artists with whom I already had some form of working and/or personal relationship. I’m often thinking about ways we can make an exhibition last “forever.” The concept of forever is really the genesis for the theme of “Lineage + Inheritance”—the idea of an unbroken chain of creators in community and eternal dialogue who are influenced by those that preceded them, and in turn influence those that come after them, intentionally or not.
Q: Why these four artists?
Martin: A number of themes surfaced that became the criteria in my exploration of whose work to show and what conversation do I want to participate in. Elements like technical execution, attention to detail, composition, originality, emotion, intent, and impact became priorities. I believe each of these four artists embody those characteristics distinctly, and some exemplifying them in particularly powerful ways. The number “4” emerged as a primordial and archetypal symbol and system—the four basic elements, the four seasons, the four cardinal directions, the four suits in a deck of cards, the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the Fantastic Four, etc. This show was a chance to assemble a team of creative super-heroes!
Q: What comes to mind for you when you think about the words “lineage” and “inheritance”?
Cornwell Wheat: My family.
Q: The description of the exhibit says that, “Each piece frames a particular generational perspective on the context of our time and on the life and liberation of Black people. Together their work responds to the idea of a Black aesthetic grounded in community participation, artistic innovation, and liberation – an idea that artists, scholars, and activists have explored across various media during the long history of Black art practices in the wider Americas.” What generation are you a member of and how do you think that’s shaped your own perspective on the life and liberation of Black people?
Cornwell Wheat: Early baby boomer generation. That is ongoing. I have always been ready to fight for my rights as an American citizen. In the past, I have been a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, a participant in the March on Washington, and many other demonstrations. At this point in my life, I realize that it is up to the generations of the future to make this a better world for themselves and their children.
Q: What does “a Black aesthetic grounded in community participation” look like from your point of view?
Cornwell Wheat: I’m a human being who happens to be African American, I am an artist who happens to be African American who is finally able to create whatever image I desire. I can paint a portrait of Dr. King, or I can create an image of a fish with the same ion.
Q: What did you want to say about Black liberation, lineage, and inheritance through the pieces in this show?
Cornwell Wheat: It has nothing to do with any of that. They are all abstractions that have nothing to do with liberation or lineage.
Q: Your website says that you were born and raised in Harlem, New York? What did you see and experience that you’ve noticed having an influence on who you’ve become as an artist?
Cornwell Wheat: The characters in my family had the most influence on who I am today. My family was very diverse. There were fisherman, artists and printers, tailors, professional gamblers, and house keepers. I’ve drawn from all of this in my career as an artist.
Q: Can you talk a bit about how you got started as an artist?
Cornwell Wheat: My earliest memory of being fascinated with the process of making art was underneath my grandmother’s wooden table where I created my first Sistine Chapel. I had two uncles in Philly, Uncle Ben and Uncle Bill, who were professional artists who told me that I had the bug. It allowed me to believe in myself. It opened up a door. I was 13 years old.
Q: When did you know this was something you wanted to do professionally, and why?
Cornwell Wheat: In 1977, when I became a single mother, I needed to be able to myself and my family. So, I studied advertising art at San Diego City College. Four years later, I went back and received a degree in fine arts and art education. This allowed me to teach African American art history for the next 14 years and myself and my family as I pursued my career as an artist.
Q: I’m curious about the kind of artistic innovation connected to a Black aesthetic that you’ve seen, both as a result of growing up in what you call “the Black capitol of the world” and in your years outside of living there?
Cornwell Wheat: African American art, or art produced by African Americans, was popularized in the media by television shows such as “Good Times” and “The Cosby Show.” Museums, galleries, and art collectors throughout the country jumped on the gravy train and recognized the long-ignored value of African American art.
