GATEWAYS: African American Art from the Key Collection

"Collecting art by African American artists has its conceptual beginning early in my development as a child.It began with the question, “Who am I?” I would always ask this question to myself in high school and as a young adult. This question nagged at me for many years as I gained a better understanding of the world around me and the absence of people with skin color like mine in it. Or, better yet, the negativity about people of color. It was not until later that many of my questions would be answered, and it was the arts, art history, and the history of people of African descent that began to give shape to my question."

- Eric Key, Collector

International Arts & Artists and Eric Key are pleased to present GATEWAYS: African American Art from the Key Collection. Eric Key is an arts administrator, curator, investor, and collector who, being immersed in the art world for decades, has closely observed its relationship with African American artists over the years. Key began collecting African American art in the early 90s, long before the arts industry, and society at large, granted it the increased, but still not full, recognition it has today.

Comprising of 88 works, the main focus of this exhibition is to present a robust survey of African American art and to offer a glimpse into the personal stories of the artists and collector. Enlisted to tell this story are some of the most recognizable contemporary black artists: Sam Gilliam, Jacob Lawrence, Elizabeth Catlett, William Artis, Samella Lewis, and Renee Stout. Together, these artists work to dispel the many stereotypes and misunderstandings about African American art and people, but remain a kind of personal narrative. As Key states, the works in his collection are an extension of himself, a black man in a still mostly white art world; they are an extension of the country in which he lives and an extension of the artists who created them.

IA&A is extremely pleased to bring this exhibition and its insight into African American art to our partners. Gateways will tour for four years, until late 2027 and is now open for bookings.

Please contact TravelingExhibitions@ArtsandArtists.org for more information.