On display: “Betty Blayton: In Search of Grace” at New York’s Mnuchin Gallery explores five decades of pioneering abstract artist

Installation view of “Betty Blayton: In Search of Grace”

On View presents images of remarkable exhibitions

THE EXHIBITION “In Search of Grace” provides a rare opportunity to explore the work of Betty blayton (1937-2016) over five decades. Known for her “spiritual abstractions,” Blayton used poetic palettes and often worked in a tondo format. Possessed of beauty and grace, his images speak to nature and invoke metaphysical themes. Paintings and works on paper dating from the late 1960s to 2014 are exhibited at the Mnuchin gallery.

A pioneer artist and institution builder, Blayton pushed the standards throughout her life and career. She was born in Williamsburg, Virginia, where higher education institutions remained separate after the Brown v. Board of Education. Avoiding integration, Virginia opted instead to pay for African American students to attend schools outside the state. Blayton took the opportunity to obtain a degree in painting and illustration from Syracuse University (1959).

Living in New York City in the 1960s, she pursued abstraction when figuration was the expected form of expression for black artists. Beyond her own practice, she was an active leader in the artistic community. When artists of African descent were largely excluded from exhibition opportunities in traditional museums and galleries, Blayton helped establish the historic Studio Museum in Harlem. She also co-founded and for 30 years held the position of general manager of the Children’s art carnival in Harlem (1968-98), an offshoot of a Museum of Modern Art education program, where its students included a young artist named Jean-Michel Basquiat.

The exhibition is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalog written by art historian Lowery Stokes Sims, a close friend of Blayton. CT

“Betty Blayton: In Search of Grace” is on view at the Mnuchin Gallery, New York, NY, September 8 through October 10. 16, 2021

FIND MORE on the exhibition

Installation view of “Betty Blayton: In Search of Grace”, Mnuchin Gallery, New York, NY (September 8-October 16, 2021). | Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “In Search of Grace”, 2006 (acrylic on canvas, 30 x 30 inches / 76.2 x 76.2 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York. Photo by Timothée Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “Sound Intruding”, 1980 (acrylic and colored rice paper on canvas, 35 ½ x 35 ½ inches / 90.2 x 90.2 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “Fractured Thought,” 1999 (acrylic and oil pastel on canvas, 58 ½ x 58 ½ inches / 148.6 x 148.6 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “Roots”, 1969 (oil on canvas, 60 x 40 inches / 152.4 x 101.6 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “Consciousness Traveling”, 2012 (acrylic on canvas, 59 ½ x 59 ½ inches / 151.1 x 151.1 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “Tarot”, 1970 (oil collage on canvas, 29 ¾ x 29 ¾ inches / 75.6 x 75.6 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

BETTY BLAYTON, “A Long Way from Home”, 1977 (acrylic on canvas, 29 x 29 inches / 73.7 x 73.7 cm). | © The estate of Betty Blayton. Courtesy of the Estate and Mnuchin Gallery, New York, photo by Timothy Doyon

FIND MORE about Betty Blayton on his site

BOOKSHELF
On the occasion of “Betty Blayton: In Search of Grace”, the Mnuchin gallery published a fully illustrated catalog written by art historian Lowery Stokes Sims.