Two African American Women Appointed to Endowed Chairs : The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education jbhe.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jbhe.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Published Jan. 22, 2021Updated Jan. 26, 2021
In the small, sun-scorched town of Cloncurry, Australia, the artist Gordon Hookey grew up very much aware of Madison Square Garden. “It was in the psyche of most Aboriginal people, because of boxing,” says Hookey, 59, who belongs to the Waanyi people. “In the early days, boxing was a means for young Aboriginal men an opportunity for achievement against the background of racism and inequalities.”
Nearly 10,000 miles away in New York, the artist Gary Simmons, 56, grew up as an avid athlete and sports fan, often attending games at Madison Square Garden. Simmons, who is Black, has frequently made art that explores sports as a form of choreography, but also as a cultural arena in which Black athletes faced racism and broke barriers. A 2014 painting by Simmons, “Fight Night,” portrays the Garden’s famous marquee, rendered in the half-erased, eerie white outlines that have become a signature element of his work.