Join Curator Cherise Smith as she gives a tour and discusses the videos on view in the exhibition, Old Wounds, Dark Dreams

Dr. Cherise Smith is the Joseph D. Jamail Chair in African American Studies in the Department of African & African Diaspora Studies at The University of Texas at Austin. She specializes in American art after 1945, especially as it intersects with the politics of identity, race, and gender. Last year, she was the inaugural Scholar of the Getty Research Institute’s African American Art History Initiative. Her award-winning recent book, Michael Ray Charles: A Retrospective (University of Texas Press, 2020), surveys Charles’ career, exploring the artist’s “sampling” approach to provocative anti-black stereotypes, as well as his analysis of African American masculinity and sports culture.

Cherise is also founding Executive Director of the Art Galleries at Black Studies and she spearheads Black Studies’ Art and Archive Initiative. She curated Charles White and the Legacy of the Figure: Celebrating the Gordon Gift at AGBS' Christian-Green Gallery and co-curated the concurrent Charles White: Celebrating the Gordon Gift at the Blanton Museum of Art. Cherise also curated Focus: Michael Ray Charles at the Christian-Green Gallery.