September 8 – November 26, 2023
The Oakland University Art Gallery is honored to present the first mid-career retrospective of
Wendel A. White, a Distinguished Professor of Art and American Studies at Stockton University,
Galloway, New Jersey, whose work addresses the complex historical narrative of Black life in
the United States. Remains · Remnants · Reliquaries features four bodies of work created over
the last thirty-five years: Manifest (2009–present), Red Summer (2011–2019), Schools for the
Colored (2002–2012), and Small Towns, Black Lives (1989–2002). The exhibition attests to the
artist’s commitment to a research-based practice centered on African American history and
material culture, the broad range of physical evidence testifying to human activity and cultural
specificity. Always intent on folding the past into the present, White invites us to engage in a
process of remembrance and critical inquiry.
Claude Baillargeon, Curator
Three flagship events will accompany this exhibition:
-In Conversation. Wendel A. White in conversation with Kenya Tyson, JD, Executive Director, The Black Massacre Project.
Friday, September 8, 2023, 5 p.m.
Oakland University Art Gallery
Conversation to be followed by public reception and exhibition opening.
Event made possible by the generous support of the Barry M. Klein Center for Culture
and Globalization, with the assistance of the Department of Art and Art History.
-Braun Lecture. “An Artist Committed to History: Wendel A. White,” presentation by
Deborah Willis, PhD, University Professor and Chair of the Department of Photography
and Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
Thursday, September 28, 2023, 7 p.m.
Banquet Rooms A and B, Oakland Center
Event made possible by the generous support of the Jean S. and Fred M. Braun
Memorial Lecture Fund, the Department of Art and Art History, and the Division of
Student Affairs and Diversity.
-Panel Discussion. “Contemporary Photography and the Black Atlantic Diaspora.”
A two-part event opening with Dr. Kenneth Montague, a Toronto-based dentist, art
collector, and the founding director of Wedge Curatorial Projects, speaking about his
collection of Black Atlantic photography.
A panel discussion featuring Wendel A. White, Dr. Montague, and Samantha A. Noël, PhD, Associate Professor of Art History and the Hawkins Ferry Endowed Chair in Modern and Contemporary Art at Wayne State University, will follow.
Thursday, October 12, 2023, 7 p.m.
Oakland University Art Gallery
Event made possible by the generous support of The Judd Family Endowed Fund.