'The Black List' Opens at the National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian'sNational Portrait Gallery Presents 
"The Black List:Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders"
Historically, theterm "blacklist" referred to a group of people marginalized and denied work orsocial approval. Created out of the inspiration to change the meaning ofthe term to become that of a roll call of distinction, "The Black List:Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders," will open at the National PortraitGallery Oct. 28. The exhibition includes all 50 of the photographic portraits thatGreenfield-Sanders created and a small theater with a continuous loop of thethree volume film The Black List. The exhibition will be at the museumthrough April 22, 2012.

Greenfield-Sanderscreated large-format fine-art photographs and directed the film; Mitchellinterviewed the subjects, documenting the experiences of the individualsselected for "The Black List." Together they created a visual "who's who" of AfricanAmericans.
"'The Black List,'stands at the intersection of American history, biography and portraiture byreclaiming a historically negative term and presenting a nuanced recognition ofstruggles, joys, troubles and triumph," said Martin Sullivan, director of theNational Portrait Gallery. "The people who are featured in this importantproject are representative of the diverse experiences of African Americanstoday."
The photographs andvideo depict all 50 subjects, including actor and comedian Whoopi Goldberg,musician John Legend, chairman and CEO of the United Negro College Fund MichaelLomax, Morrison, U.N. ambassador Susan Rice, comedian Chris Rock, the Rev. Al Sharpton,artist Kara Walker and athlete Serena Williams.
AT&T is thesponsor of "The Black List: Photographs by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders." Thefilmed interviews in the exhibition are made available courtesy of TV One.
TimothyGreenfield-Sanders
           
Greenfield-Sanders isan internationally know photographer and Grammy Award-winning filmmaker. Hisportraits of political leaders and cultural icons have earned him a place inmore than 25 museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art, the WhitneyMuseum of American Art and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The Smithsonian'sNational Portrait Gallery
The Smithsonian'sNational Portrait Gallery tells the history of America through the individualswho have shaped its culture. Through the visual arts, performing arts and newmedia, the Portrait Gallery portrays poets and presidents, visionaries andvillains, actors and activists whose lives tell the American story.
The National PortraitGallery is part of the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art andPortraiture at Eighth and F streets N.W., Washington, D.C. Website: npg.si.edu.Smithsonian information: (202) 633-1000; (202) 633-5285 (TTY).
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