Duke University Press - Dark Designs and Visual Culture

Subjects
African American Studies and Black Diaspora, Art and Visual Culture > Feminist Art, Gender and Sexuality > Feminism and Women’s Studies

Michele Wallace burst into public consciousness with the 1979 publication of Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, a pioneering critique of the misogyny of the Black Power movement and the effects of racism and sexism on black women. Since then, Wallace has produced an extraordinary body of journalism and criticism engaging with popular culture and gender and racial politics. This collection brings together more than fifty of the articles she has written over the past fifteen years. Included alongside many of her best-known pieces are previously unpublished essays as well as interviews conducted with Wallace about her work. Dark Designs and Visual Culture charts the development of a singular, pathbreaking black feminist consciousness.

Beginning with a new introduction in which Wallace reflects on her life and career, this volume includes other autobiographical essays; articles focused on popular culture, the arts, and literary theory; and explorations of issues in black visual culture. Wallace discusses growing up in Harlem; how she dealt with the media attention and criticism she received for Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman, which was published when she was just twenty-seven years old; and her relationship with her family, especially her mother, the well-known artist Faith Ringgold. The many articles devoted to black visual culture range from the historical tragedy of the Hottentot Venus, an African woman displayed as a curiosity in nineteenth-century Europe, to films that sexualize the black body—such as Watermelon Woman, Gone with the Wind, and Paris Is Burning. Whether writing about the Anita Hill–Clarence Thomas hearings, rap music, the Million Man March, Toshi Reagon, multiculturalism, Marlon Riggs, or a nativity play in Bedford Stuyvesant, Wallace is a bold, incisive critic. Dark Designs and Visual Culture brings the scope of her career and thought into sharp focus.

“Dark Designs gave me that fuzzy, blissy, slightly brainwashed feeling you get when you realize you’ve absorbed some new insight without even noticing. It’s clearly evident that, besides being a well-known and well-respected black feminist and cultural critic, Wallace is a gifted storyteller. . . . Wallace’s recipe of personal history and cultural study critiques in Dark Designs makes for a sweet, satisfying treat indeed.” — Narkhunda , M/C Reviews

“Dark Designs is an overall revealing, exciting gathering of Michele Wallace’s work over the years as one of this nation’s most daring cultural critics.” — Natalie Maxwell , Feminist Review blog

"Dark Designs is a thick book that communicates broader ideas by collecting together simple, readable essays into a fascinating mosaic that is definitely more than the sum of its parts." — Emily Patterson-Kane , Altar Magazine

"[A] fascinating critique of popular and intellectual culture. . . . It brings to life a time when artists and intellectuals actively tried to change the cultural landscape and engage with issues of identity and politics in controversial and innovative ways." — Danny Voloch, Bust

"[T]he writing is energetic, direct, and thoughtful. . . . The autobiographical background is doubly interesting because it sheds light also on Wallace's mother, artist Faith Ringgold. Essential." — J. Tharp, Choice

"From the author of Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman comes another groundbreaking black feminist critique. This collection offers much for lesbian readers. . . ." — Diane Anderson-Minshall , Curve

"Prefaced by a powerfully personal and characteristically bold introduction, Wallace's collection of essays and articles take the reader on a retrospective romp through the last two decades and beyond." — Tara Lake , Girlfriends

"Those interested in the fields of women's studies, visual and cinema studies and cultural studies might be especially drawn to this book. For those who have not read her before, Dark Designs and Visual Culture serves as a fine introduction to Wallace and her work; and while readers' responses to Wallace's arguments will be varied, many will find something of value-whether in the brief, vignettelike pieces or the longer selections from scholarly journals-within these pages." — Denise Simon , Black Issues Book Review

"Wallace possesses a rare gift for honesty in her writing, something that is refreshing in the world of cultural studies, where discourses and generalizations normally take precedence. Her language forces the reader to admit things that he/she may not normally admit and to consider perspectives that are usually silenced, such as that of Black women." — Angela Morris , Black Renaissance/Renaissance Noire

"Whether revising decades-old opinions or reaffirming them, this collection of work including thoughts on her mother, artist Faith Ringgold, the Million Man March, the sexualizing of the black female body and the continuing debate on black visual culture crystallizes Wallace's sharp criticism and concerns for the state of black existence and feminist culture. Evolve on, Michele Wallace. Evolve on." — Jenoyne Adams , Ms.

“Dark Designs and Visual Culture is a remarkable compilation of images, self-reflexive essays, and other critical works. It demonstrates Michele Wallace’s mastery of cultural criticism and indicates her interaction with American and African American visual culture during the past thirty years. A writer of extraordinary talent, she wields an ever sharpened insight and wit.” — Deborah Willis

“I can hardly think of a living critic who is as courageous as Michele Wallace—she says things no one else dares to—and this collection proves just how consistent her bravery has been over the years.” — Andrew Ross

“Michele Wallace has long been one of the most insightful and brave writers dealing with popular culture in this country. Her latest work continues that tradition of courage and wit.”—Nelson George — N/A