True to its fierce title, Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch on the Brooklyn Museum illustrates the resilience and ingenuity of an Afro-Indigenous lady sculptor. Prophet was born in Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1890, to a Narragansett father and an African-American mom. In 1918, she turned the primary graduate of coloration from the Rhode Island College of Design, and 4 years later, she moved to Paris. Upon her return to the USA in 1934, she taught at Spelman School for a decade earlier than lastly transferring again to Rhode Island, which remained her dwelling till her dying in 1960.
Two fundamental galleries comprise the exhibition, one centered on Prophet’s oeuvre and the opposite on her eternal affect. A row of vitrines throughout the primary gallery showcases her surviving wooden and stone figural sculptures. In 1931, she attended the Paris Colonial Exhibition, which celebrated the huge riches and much reaches of the French Empire. On view among the many different sculptures, “Congalais” (1931) is a cherrywood bust representing an nameless Maasai man from East Africa — the singular braid coiffure is a reference to the daring warriors who resisted European imperialism. Maybe alluding to Pan-African connections, its title refers back to the Congolese individuals who had been nonetheless dealing with France’s brutal imperial rule.
Set up view of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch on the Brooklyn Museum (picture Timothy Doyon)
Prophet’s integration of historic European and African motifs is clear within the mix of realism, abstraction, and emotional depth in her sculptures. The amalgamated types in her work parallel the wealthy tapestry of cultural influences in her decade overseas, studying about Classical and Renaissance European artwork, in addition to classical African sculpture on view in Europe. Her pair of busts each titled “Silence” (1926), sculpted in marble after which forged in bronze, have been interpreted as self-portraits almost definitely. The sculptures echo the graceful texture and idealized options of classical Greek sculpture, in addition to the enigmatic fantastic thing about Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Prophet was an admirer of Classical and Renaissance artwork, and one can see the delicate realism and sophisticated expressiveness of those artwork historic antecedents in her sculptural apply.
On the gallery partitions, an array of Prophet’s drawings, watercolors, and bas reliefs current totally different facets of her creative apply. In “Walk Among the Lilies” (1931–32) and numerous untitled watercolors, impressionistic nature scenes are enlivened by daring pops of coloration extra typical of modernist portray. Close by, pictures of her sculptures in glass instances reveal her meticulous documentation of her artworks. These archival pictures are the one remaining visible document of a number of of those works.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, “Congolais” (1931), cherrywood; Whitney Museum of American Artwork (picture Digital picture © Whitney Museum of American Artwork / Licensed by Scala / Artwork Useful resource, New York)
Regardless of her ample apply, Prophet confronted poverty and scarce alternatives all through her profession due to the racist and sexist exclusion of ladies of coloration from the artwork world. At instances, she tried to distance herself from her Black id by emphasizing her Indigeneity or making her gender extra ambiguous by signing works as “Eli Prophet.” One accolade she coveted however didn’t obtain in her lifetime was a solo exhibition. Almost a century after she graduated from RISD, her dream has been fulfilled.
To offer Black and Indigenous girls their flowers whereas they’re with us ought to at all times be a precedence, however belated recognition within the type of exhibitions like this nonetheless honors the legacies of artists who had been systemically ignored by the mainstream artwork world throughout their lifetimes.
The following gallery additional explores Prophet’s profession and legacy. A timeline makes use of archival pictures to visually chart her life story, whereas a brief video that exhibits her instructing in Atlanta affords valuable perception into the expertise of studying from this masterful sculptor. “Conspiracy” (2022), a movie by Simone Leigh and Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, is a transferring testomony to the handbook labors of Black girls artists. Projected on a wall close to Prophet’s sculpting instruments, this juxtaposition redirects us to think about the hand of the artist in an intimate manner that pays homage to her contact, and refuses to let her labors be misplaced to historic oblivion. Leigh and different Black girls sculptors are inside Prophet’s creative lineage. Lengthy overdue, the exhibition is a compelling ode to the artist and her legacy.
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, Drawing (n.d), graphite, watercolor, and opaque watercolor on paper (Nancy Elizabeth Prophet Assortment, MSS-0028, Particular Collections, James P. Adams Library, Rhode Island School) 
Set up view of Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch on the Brooklyn Museum (picture Timothy Doyon)
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet, “Walk Among the Lilies” (c. 1931–32), polychrome wooden; Museum of Artwork, Rhode Island College of Design (picture Erik Gould)
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet: I Will Not Bend an Inch continues on the Brooklyn Museum (200 Jap Parkway, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn) by way of July 13. The exhibition was curated by Dominic Molon, Sarah Ganz Blythe, and Kajette Solomon. The Brooklyn Museum presentation is organized by Catherine Morris with Carla Forbes. This exhibition originated on the RISD Museum.
