Black Art and Aesthetics: Relationalities, Interiorities, Reckonings

"Black Art and Aesthetics is an important collection of cutting-edge essays that explore the possibility of "revalorizing" Black aesthetics in ways that embrace both complex continuities and ruptures in the freighted history of aesthetics. The volume assembles writing by some of the most innovative artists and thinkers at the core of black contemporary art history, criticism and practice." –Tina Campt, Professor of Humanities, Princeton University, USA

"This impressive and vibrant assemblage of artists, poets, and theorists showcases the beauty and brilliance of Black aesthetics. Each investigation buzzes with strategies for creating, living, and being despite difficulty. As a gathering, Black Art and Aesthetics promises to remake how we see the world." –Amber Jamilla Musser, Professor of English, CUNY Graduate Center, USA

"The essays collected in Black Art and Aesthetics represent a comprehensive statement on the continuing vitality of Black aesthetics and a revaluation of the cultural forces that have been driving the production of art in the Black diaspora. Drawing from a gallery of distinguished scholars, poets, and artists, this volume will serve as a model of critical thinking about Black aesthetics for a long time." –Simon Gikandi, Professor of English, Princeton University, USA

"Finally, we have a book that explores and tracks the fugitive, complicated, intractable, and vital idea of Black Aesthetics with the expansive critical and intellectual sophistication that the scholarship has been waiting for since the 1960s. Finally." –Chika Okeke-Agulu, Professor of Art and Archaeology and African-American Studies, Princeton University, USA

"Now that this wonderful anthology of Black Art and aesthetics is finally here, we can see just how necessary and long-awaited it was. And it's not just a juxtaposition of texts and works of art in a still tableau. It is, fortunately, a powerful expression of the movement and life force of the inexhaustible fountain of black aesthetics: fons africanus and fons americanus all at once." –Souleymane Bachir Diagne, Professor of French and of Philosophy, and Director of the Institute of African Studies, Columbia University, Columbia University, USA

"Kelly and Roelofs's collection is a welcome and much needed contribution to the philosophically-informed study of Black Art and aesthetic practices. The range of insight is impressive and the acuity of the analyses even more so. Artists and theorists alike will draw inspiration from these essays." –Robert J. Gooding-Williams, Professor of African-American Studies and of Philosophy, Columbia University, USA