October 3, 2026 | 5:00–6:15 PM
ICA Miami presents distinguished art historian Richard J. Powell for a book talk celebrating the publication of Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect. Drawing from his new book, Powell examines the powerful role of color in Black American painting and considers how artists have used hue and pigmentation to create meaning, provoke remembrance, stir emotion, and articulate experiences of freedom and reclamation.
At the center of Powell’s study is the concept of “colorstruck,” a twentieth-century slang term used to describe prejudice toward people with darker skin complexions. From this point of departure, he develops a broader history of Black American art in which color functions not simply as a formal device, but as a force charged with cultural, psychological, and historical significance.
Powell traces the dynamics of paint and pigment in the work of artists including Jacob Lawrence, Alma Thomas, Raymond Saunders, Sam Gilliam, Hervé Télémaque, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Lynette Yiadom-Boakye, Nina Chanel Abney, and Henry Taylor. Through blue, green, yellow, orange, black, red, brown, and their many combinations, he explores how vibrant palettes intersect with questions of race, memory, identity, and representation in unexpected and thought-provoking ways.
Rather than treating color as merely decorative or optical, Powell considers its physical and psychological impact on the viewer. In these works, color can attract, unsettle, energize, destabilize, and transform perception. It becomes a vehicle through which artists negotiate both personal and collective histories, while opening possibilities for freedom, reclamation, and emotional intensity.
The talk offers insight into the relationship between artistic action and viewer response, revealing how chromatic choices can carry meanings that extend far beyond the painted surface. The presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A.
Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect is published in association with the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.
Event Details
ICA Miami Expansion Space
23 NE 41st Street
Miami, FL 33137
Schedule
- Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026
- Time: 5:00 – 6:15 PM
- Location: ICA Miami Expansion Space: 23 NE 41st St
Timeline
- 5:00 – 6:00 PM: Presentation by Richard J. Powell
- 6:00 – 6:15 PM: Audience Q&A
Speaker Biography
Richard J. Powell is the John Spencer Bassett Distinguished Professor of Art and Art History at Duke University. His many books include Going There: Black Visual Satire, Cutting a Figure: Fashioning Black Portraiture, and Homecoming: The Art and Life of William H. Johnson. Powell is one of the foremost scholars of African American art and visual culture.
Book Information
Title: Colorstruck! Painting, Pigment, Affect
Author: Richard J. Powell
