The Metropolitan Museum of Art Exhibition Catalogues*Hear Me Now: The Black Potters Of Old Edgefield, South Carolina

Edited By Adrienne Spinozzi
With An Interview With Simone Leigh And Contributions By Michael J. Bramwell, Vincent Brown, Ethan W. Lasser, And Jason R. Young

Recentering The Development Of Industrially Scaled Southern Pottery Traditions Around Enslaved And Free Black Potters Working In The Mid-Nineteenth Century,This Catalogue Presents Groundbreaking Scholarship And New Perspectives On Stoneware Made In And Around Edgefield, South Carolina. Among The Remarkableworks Included Are A Selection Of Regional Face Vessels As Well As Masterpieces By Enslaved Potter And Poet David Drake, Who Signed, Dated, And Incised Verses Onmany Of His Jars, Even Though Literacy Among Enslaved People Was Criminalized At The Time. Essays On The Production, Collection, Dispersal, And Reception Ofstoneware From Edgefield Offer A Critical Look At What It Means To Collect, Exhibit, And Interpret Objects Made By Enslaved Artisans. Several Featured Contemporaryworks Inspired By Or Related To Edgefield Stoneware Attest To The Cultural And Historical Significance Of This Body Of Work, And An Interview With Acclaimedcontemporary Artist Simone Leigh Illuminates Its Continued Relevance. Adrienne Spinozzi Is Associate Curator In The American Wing At The Metropolitanmuseum Of Art, New York.