The works in the UMMA exhibition Abstraction, Color, and Politics in the Early 1970s explore intersections of social justice, race and gender through the large scale, abstract works of the artists. Join Larry M. Gant, Professor of Social Work and Professor, Penny W. Stamps School of Art & Design for his take on the large-scale abstract works of Al Loving and Sam Gilliam. Gant explores the challenges and controversies experienced by the artists, suggesting  ways that their approaches have and continue to generate, in the words of James Baldwin, “the evidence of things unseen."

UMMA gratefully acknowledges the following donors for their generous support of this exhibition:

Lead Exhibition Sponsors: University of Michigan Office of the Provost, Michigan Medicine, and College of Literature, Science, and the Arts

Exhibition Endowment Donors:  Richard and Rosann Noel Endowment Fund, Herbert W. and Susan L. Johe Endowment, and Robert and Janet Miller Fund

University of Michigan Funding Partners: Institute for Research on Women and Gender, School of Social Work, Department of Political Science, and Department of Women's Studies