By Daniel Rabuzzi
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PORTRAIT OF MARY HILL, LADY KILLIGREW (DETAIL), 2013, by KEHINDE WILEY. Copyright the artist and/or his representatives; no infringement intended, displayed here for non-commercial use.

African American visual artists such as Tomashi Jackson, Sanford Biggers, Lorna Simpson, Kehinde Wiley, Kara Walker, Titus Kaphar, Kerry James Marshall, Betye Saar, and Lorna Williams are doing some of the very best exploration and (re)interpretation of U.S. history. (*) Their work should be required viewing and subject of discussion in every school in our country.

To understand our shared American identity, we — all of us — must understand, accept and live by the commentary given by these artists. We will never be fully formed, authentic Americans unless we do.

More deeply versed in European and White American art history and aesthetic tropes than many (most?) of their white contemporaries, these artists know whites better than whites (choose to) know themselves. They engage more robustly with the nature of American life, delve far more powerfully into the barbed intercalations of American society than their white counterparts, while simultaneously opening out into much wider planes of reference. Their candor, fierce powers of observation, and willingness to judge for the betterment of all contrast sharply with the often insipid, etiolated, twee, self-referential art presented by the “mainstream.”

Or shall I say rather “the mainstream that was,” recognizing that the mainstream now includes the artists I name and many others who share their various philosophies — that these artists also guide and shape the mainstream. The river is very large, with many tributaries and a great estuary. As it should be, as it must be, no matter what those who build dams and breakwaters would try to force us to believe.

(*) I merely observe. Eminent scholars and curators such as Thelma Golden , Naima Keith, Eugenie Tsai, Lisa Farrington, and Kobena Mercer have presented and analyzed these works far better than I could.