Faith Ringgold painting of three people in front of an American flag

Faith Ringgold, American People Series #18: The Flag Is Bleeding, 1967. Oil on canvas, 72 × 96 in. (182.9 × 243.8 cm). National Gallery of Art, Washington, Patrons’ Permanent Fund and Gift of Glenstone Foundation (2021.28.1). © Faith Ringgold / ARS, NY and DACS, London, courtesy ACA Galleries, New York 2021

Faith Ringgold: American People

Bringing together fifty years of work, this is the most comprehensive exhibition to date of Faith Ringgold’s groundbreaking vision. Featuring works from across Ringgold’s best-known series, this show tracks the development of her figurative style as it evolved to meet the urgency of political and social change. Throughout her career, Ringgold has drawn from personal and collective histories to both document her life and amplify the struggles for justice and equity. From creating some of the most indelible artworks of the civil rights era to challenging accepted hierarchies of art versus craft through her experimental story quilts, Ringgold has produced a body of work that bears witness to the complexity of the American experience. Long overdue, this retrospective provides a timely opportunity to engage with the art of an American icon.

In the news

  • For those who believe that artists can be activists, that their work can truly reach beyond small complacent audiences and instigate real social change, there is one patron saint: Faith Ringgold.

    Christopher Bollen, Interview Magazine,
  • What consigned Ringgold to an outlier track half a century ago puts her front and center now.

    Holland Cotter, The New York Times,

Film

Faith Ringgold artworks installed at the de Young museum

Sponsors

Faith Ringgold: American People is organized by the New Museum, New York. 

Lead support for this exhibition has been provided by The Henry Luce Foundation. Major support for this exhibition has been provided by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, with generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, Glenstone, and The Robert Lehman Foundation.

Support for the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco’s presentation has been generously provided by

Major Support

Ford Foundation

Generous Support

Deborah and Kenneth Novack

Additional Support is provided by Brook Hartzell and Tad Freese

Currently on view