Alicia Henry
{{Short description|American visual artist}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Alicia Henry
| image = AliciaHenryWorking.jpg
| alt = Alicia Henry working on an outdoor mural.
| caption = Henry in 2017
| birth_date = {{birth date|1966|5|11}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2024|10|17|1966|5|11}}
| death_place = Nashville, Tennessee
| education = BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
MFA, Yale University
| occupation = Artist
}}
Alicia Henry (May 11, 1966 – October 17, 2024) was an American contemporary artist who lived, worked, and taught in Nashville.{{Cite web|url=http://www.carlhammergallery.com/artists/alicia-henry|title=Alicia Henry - Artists - Carl Hammer Gallery|website=www.carlhammergallery.com|access-date=2019-03-23}} Henry was an associate professor in the Language and Arts Department at Fisk University.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/life/arts/2015/12/27/fisk-professor-returns-zeitgeist-enigmatic-cutouts/77682702/|title=Fisk professor returns to Zeitgeist with enigmatic cutouts|website=The Tennessean|language=en|access-date=2019-03-23}} Henry created multi-media artwork that focused on themes of the body and identity. She used materials such as wood, fabric, paper and pigment for her creations.{{Cite web|url=http://zeitgeist-art.com/barbour-henry-2016|title=Barbour Henry 2016|website=ZEITGEIST|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-23}} Henry received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master of Fine Arts from the School of Art at Yale University.{{Cite web|url=http://www.thepowerplant.org/Exhibitions/2019/Winter-2019/Witnessing.aspx|title=The Power Plant - Exhibitions – The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery – Harbourfront Centre|website=www.thepowerplant.org|access-date=2019-03-23}}
Work
Henry made layered, figurative textile wall hangings from stitched and hand-embroidered dyed cotton, leather, felt, linen, and burlap. {{Cite web|url=https://burnaway.org/review/the-stitch-of-death-alicia-henry-at/|title=The Stitch of Life and Death: Alicia Henry at Zeitgeist, Nashville|last=Ciccarone|first=Erica|date=Jan 15, 2016|website=BURNAWAY|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-23}} Her work explored themes of familial relationships, beauty, the body and identity.{{Cite web|last=Gallery|first=Liliana Bloch|date=2018-11-28|title=Alicia Henry {{!}} Liliana Bloch Gallery|url=https://lilianablochgallery.com/project/alicia-henry/|access-date=2020-07-09|language=en-US}}
Career
Alicia Henry's work has been exhibited at various institutions including the Whitney Museum (New York), The Drawing Center (New York), Carnegie Museum of Art (Pittsburgh), Frist Art Museum (Nashville) and the Cheekwood Museum of Art (Nashville).{{Cite web|url=https://canadianart.ca/agenda/alicia-henry-witnessing/|title=Alicia Henry: Witnessing|website=Canadian Art|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-23}} From January 26, 2019 to May 12, 2019, Henry had her first Canadian exhibition at The Power Plant in Toronto, Ontario.{{Cite web|title=The Power Plant - Exhibitions – The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery – Harbourfront Centre|url=http://www.thepowerplant.org/Exhibitions/2019/Winter-2019/Witnessing.aspx|access-date=2020-07-09|website=www.thepowerplant.org}} The exhibition was entitled Witnessing and it consisted of many two-dimensional mixed media figures as well as group compositions. From May 26, 2021 to July 3, 2021, Henry had her first solo exhibition, Alicia Henry: To Whom It May Concern in the United Kingdom at [https://www.tiwani.co.uk/ Tiwani Contemporary].
Personal life and death
Henry was diagnosed with cancer in the early 2020s. She died from the disease on October 17, 2024, at the age of 58.{{cite news |last1=Greenberger |first1=Alex |title=Alicia Henry, Artist Whose Modest Works Asked Big Questions About Visibility, Dies at 58 |url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/alicia-henry-dead-1234721745/ |access-date=21 October 2024 |work=ARTnews |date=21 October 2024}}[https://www.lewisandwrightfuneraldirectors.com/obituaries/alicia-henry Alicia Henry]
Honors
- 2013: Painters & Sculptors Grant Program from The Joan Mitchell Foundation.{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=Joan Mitchell|title=The Joan Mitchell Foundation announces the 2013 Painters & Sculptors Grant Recipients|url=https://joanmitchellfoundation.org/blog/the-joan-mitchell-foundation-announces-the-2013-painters-sculptors-grant-re|access-date=2019-03-23|website=joanmitchellfoundation.org|language=en}}
- 2000: Guggenheim Fellowship.{{Cite web|title=Alicia Henry: Witnessing|url=https://canadianart.ca/agenda/alicia-henry-witnessing/|access-date=2019-03-23|website=Canadian Art|language=en-US}}
- 1993: MacDowell Art Colony (Summer)
- 1989–1991: Ford Foundation Fellowship
Selected group exhibitions
- 2021 The Black Index (online only due to COVID-19 restrictions), University of California, Irvine (CAC Gallery), Irvine, California (January 14-March 20, 2021) with Dennis Delgado, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Titus Kaphar, Whitfield Lovell, and Lava Thomas.{{cite web |url=https://uag.arts.uci.edu/exhibit/black-index |title=The Black Index |author= |date= |website=University of California, Irvine |publisher= |access-date=2 October 2024 |quote=The artists featured in The Black Index—Dennis Delgado, Alicia Henry, Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle, Titus Kaphar, Whitfield Lovell, and Lava Thomas—build upon the tradition of Black self-representation as an antidote to colonialist images. }}
References
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Category:20th-century American artists
Category:21st-century American artists
Category:Fisk University faculty
Category:Artists from Illinois
Category:20th-century American women artists