RENO, NV (PNAN) – On view at the Nevada Museum of Art, “When Langston Hughes Came to Town” explores the history and legacy of Langston Hughes through the lens of his largely unknown travels to Nevada and highlights the vital role Hughes played in the Harlem Renaissance and beyond.
The exhibition begins by examining the relationship of this literary giant to the state of Nevada through a unique presentation of archival photographs, ephemera, and short stories he wrote that were informed by his visit to the area.
The writer’s first trip to the Silver State took place in 1932, when he investigated the working conditions at the Hoover Dam Project. He returned to the state in 1934, at the height of his career, making an unexpected trip to Reno, and found solace and a great night life in the city.
The range of work on display foregrounds the rich expressions of dance, music, and fashion prevalent during the influential movement. Work shown are created by leading artists of the Harlem Renaissance who had close ties to Hughes, including sculptures by Augusta Savage and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, photographs by Griffith J. Davis, and paintings by Beauford Delaney, Romare Bearden, Aaron Douglas, Norman Lewis, Hugo Gellert, Hale Woodruff, Charles Alston, and Archibald J. Motley, Jr.
Concurrently, exhibition features contemporary artists who were inspired by Hughes and made work about his life. Excerpts from Hughes’s poems and short stories are juxtaposed with related works of art, demonstrating how his legacy endures in the twenty-first century. Isaac Julien, Kwame Brathwaite, Deborah Willis, PhD., Benny Andrews, Gordon Parks, Chase R. McCurdy, Arvie Smith, and David Shrobe are the artists whose works are included.
For example, Julien in his renowned series “Looking for Langston” reimagines scenarios of Hughes’s life in Harlem during the 1920s. His black-and-white images are paired with Hughes poem “Poem (To F.S.).” Similarly, Brathwaite’s impactful photographs highlight the continuation of the Harlem Renaissance through the Black pride movement of the 1960s and are coupled with the poem “My People.” Finally, Glenn Ligon’s prints from his America neon sculptures relates to Hughes’s poignant poem “Let America Be America Again,” which leave viewers to ponder the question of belonging in America.
Some works on view can be found at: https://www.nevadaart.org/art/exhibitions/when-langston-hughes-came-to-town.