It’s a time of great loss. The death of the American painter, Emma Amos , adds another drop into the ocean of sadness threatening to flood our world.
Artnews has prepared a brief slideshow of a few of her works. Ms Amos worked across several media, from drawing and painting to printmaking, tapestry and installation work.
Emma Amos was an artist, wife, mother, and (sometimes) reluctant activitist. She was a Guerrilla Girl! Guerrilla Girls work anonymously to expose gender and ethnic bias, but Ms Amos did say I was once a member of a very famous clandestine women’s group that worked at night and did not ever go out without masks on our faces.
Howard Cotter’s article in the New York Times Is worth a read. It’s a factual, insightful and compassionate summary of a very accomplished artist. He points out the significance of paintings like Tightrope, Equals and Work Suit.
If you’re like me, you’re wondering why you’ve never heard of Emma Amos, or seen her work. She wondered the same thing. The ARTnews article about her career quotes her: I wake up in the morning and say, ‘I have one piece at the Museum of Modern Art. I wonder, Is it still there?’ ‘You know, I wonder if I’ve been deaccessioned,’ she said. ‘And I wonder how come nobody knows who I am?’
As we all know, it’s time for that to change.