MALCOLM BAILEY, “Untitled 1969,” 1969 (acrylic on composition board, 48 × 71 15/16 inches / 121.9 × 182.7 cm). | © artist or artist’s estate, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York; purchase, with funds from the Larry Aldrich Foundation Fund. 69.77

 
Reaching diverse audiences at art museums
includes providing accessible programming for Deaf patrons
 

NEARLY TWO DECADES AGO, the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York launched Whitney Signs, a series of American Sign Language (ASL) programs for Deaf audiences. When artist and activist Christine Sun Kim joined the Whitney’s education department in 2007, she helped further develop the programming, including ASL tours led by Deaf educators and an ASL vlog project that began in 2011.

The ongoing video series features ASL interpretations of works represented in the museum’s collection, including several by African American artists such as Malcolm Bailey, Ed Clark, Diedrick Brackens, Elizabeth Catlett, Theaster Gates, Jacob Lawrence, Simone Leigh, Glenn Ligon, and Archibald Motley.

“Our goal with this project is to highlight the important artwork here at the Whitney,” Lauren Ridloff, an educator and interpreter at the museum, said in the introduction to the project. Ridloff presents most of the artworks in the ASL videos below. (The videos do not have any sound/audio. The information is presented in American Sign Language and closed captioning is available, along with a transcript of the video.) The videos appear in chronological order, beginning with the most recent:

 
This post will be updated periodically as the museum releases new ASL videos
 


DIEDRICK BRACKENS | Educator Lauren Ridloff describes a work by Los Angeles-based textile artist Diedrick Brackens (b. 1989). “they spring from the embers of my mouth,” 2019 (cotton yarn) was featured in the group exhibition “Inheritance” (June 28, 2023-Feb. 4, 2024). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): This is a vertical, geometric, double woven textile made of cotton yarn, about the size and shape of a rug. We see geometric shapes, rectangles and thinner lines that run through the shapes in both directions. The colors are vibrant and bold: magenta, lime green, dark red, orange, white, and more. What we are actually looking at is a self-portrait of the weaver. Brackens is a textile artist who approaches his work from two tracks. He researches, writes and draws his idea, but he also uses math to create an algorithm. This specific work was created after he received a personalized DNA report. He translated different genetic traits into an algorithm that determined the dimensions and warp and weft and colors of this textile piece. Brackens is showing us an abstract mathematical story of his genetic makeup, his DNA, where his ancestors came from, etc.
 


DEANA LAWSON | Educator Lauren Ridloff discusses a photographic work by Brooklyn, N.Y.-based artist Deana Lawson (b. 1979). “The Garden, Gemena, DR Congo,” 2015 (inkjet print) was featured in the group exhibition “Inheritance” (June 28, 2023-Feb. 4, 2024). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


FAITH RINGGOLD | Educator Lauren Ridloff explains “United States of Attica,” 1971 (offset lithograph) by Faith Ringgold (1930-2024). The Harlem-born artist who lived and worked in New Jersey produced a series of graphic political posters in the 1970s. This print is a map of American violence that was featured in the group exhibition “Inheritance” (June 28, 2023-Feb. 4, 2024). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


JOHN EDMONDS | Educator Lauren Ridloff describes a photographic work by Brooklyn, N.Y., artist John Edmonds (b. 1989). “Tête d’Homme,” 2018 (inkjet print) was included in the group exhibition “Inheritance” (June 28, 2023-Feb. 4, 2024), as well as the “Whitney Biennial 2019” (May 17–Oct 27, 2019), which featured 13 photographs by Edmonds, “Tête d’Homme,” among them. | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Educator Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): We see a photograph of a Black man resting his head on a brown cloth in the foreground. He is holding an etched and beaded African mask, the kind you might see outside on the streets of NYC at a sidewalk vendor. We see rich browns, blacks, and gold. A lot of warmth. This is a direct response to another photograph from 1926 by Man Ray titled Noire et Blanche, French for “Black and White.” Man Ray’s photograph is black and white, and the subject is a white woman holding a black African mask. There is a stark contrast between the black and white in Man Ray’s photo. In this photograph, Edmonds takes control of the gaze to avoid fetishizing, focusing more on connection.… Edmonds said that his photograph was created using natural light and a big gold reflector. He aims to show the warmth and the tones of the skin, to show the beauty of Black skin when illuminated properly by Black artists. That results in us feeling connected to the man in the photograph as a protagonist, rather than a subject.
 


CHARLES HENRY ALSTON | Educator Lauren Ridloff discusses “The Family” 1955 (oil on canvas). The painting is by Charles H. Alston (1907-1977), a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Featuring a somewhat abstracted portrait of four family members—two adult figures and two children—the work was included in “The Whitney’s Collection: Selections From 1900 to 1965” (June 28, 2019-May 1, 2025). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


SIMONE LEIGH | Educator Lauren Ridloff describes a monumental sculpture by Simone Leigh (b. 1967). The Brooklyn-based artist represented the United States at the Venice Biennale in 2019. Her practice centers Black feminist thought and her work often combines the female figure, domestic vessels, and African architectural forms. Leigh’s “Cupboard VIII,” 2018 (stoneware, steel frame, raffia, slip) was featured in the group exhibition “Making Knowing: Craft in Art, 1950–2019” (Nov. 22, 2019-Feb. 20, 2020). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): …the skirt, which is made of raffia, is a nod to West Africa. People from Cameroon and Chad built dome-like structures called teleuk dwellings. These structures were made from grass, dung, mud, and other materials. This skirt also references an alarming building here in America. In Natchez, Mississippi, is a restaurant that has been open since the 1940’s and is still very popular. The restaurant’s structure is odd: it is in the shape of an Aunt Jemima-esque “mammy,” who looks eager to please and serve. And under the woman’s skirt is where people sit and eat down-home cooking and drink blueberry lemonade. Leigh incorporated this Jim Crow-era influence along with the West African references into her sculpture and specifically the skirt. The head of the sculpture is in the shape of a pot or jar. This item is traditionally used in Africa and is a very important tool. This is also a statement about how Black bodies are often viewed as tools.
 


ED CLARK | Educator Lauren Ridloff discusses “Winter Bitch,” 1959 (acrylic, oil, and pastel on canvas). Featuring bold strokes and cool colors, the abstract painting is by Ed Clark (1926-2019). Ridloff shares that the artist “had been staying in Paris for five years when one miserably cold winter he created this painting.” The work was featured in the exhibition “The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965” (June 28, 2019-May 1, 2025). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


MALCOLM BAILEY | Educator Lauren Ridloff shares “Untitled 1969,” 1969 (acrylic on composition board). This profound work about the Transatlantic slave trade is by Harlem-born artist Malcolm Bailey (1947-2011). The painting was featured in the exhibitions “The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965” (June 28, 2019–May 1, 2025) and “America Is Hard to See” (May 1–Sept. 27, 2015). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): Bailey believed that it is the artist’s responsibility to interpret life in a subjective, complex way, rather than a literal reflection. He argues that, with some historical Black art of the diaspora, the images are overtly representational and lack a connection with the viewer. Bailey wants to make people think. He uses these blueprints because they show the careful engineering that was integral to the abduction and transportation of Africans. And that the cotton plant was the basis of the economic system that fed on the labor of enslaved people.
 


ELIZABETH CATLETT | Educator Lauren Ridloff explains “Head,” 1947 (terracotta) by Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012). The renowned artist is known for her powerful sculptural forms. The work has been featured in a succession of collection exhibitions: “The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900 to 1965” (June 28, 2019–May 1, 2025); “The Whitney’s Collection” (Sept. 28, 2015-April 4, 2016); and “America is Hard to See” (May 1-Sept. 27, 2015). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): When we look at this sculpture we can see so many precise details. The eyebrows, the face structure, the hair— you can see the texture that was created using a tool. We understand this sculpture is the head of a woman. She is Black, looking upward, exuding dignity and strength. Catlett’s goal here was to display qualities of determination, tenderness, and love. Catlett believed that creating art about ordinary people was a political act.
 


ARCHIBALD MOTLEY | Educator Lauren Ridloff discusses “Gettin’ Religion,” 1948 (oil on linen) by Chicago artist Archibald John Motley Jr. (1891-1981), an American modernist known for his vibrant cultural scenes. The painting was featured in “Archibald Motley: Jazz Age Modernist” (Oct. 2, 2015-Jan. 17, 2016) from which the Whitney Museum of American Art acquired the painting. In the years since, the work has also been included in “Edges of Ailey” (Sept. 25, 2024–Feb 9, 2025), as well as the collection exhibitions “The Whitney’s Collection: Selections from 1900-1965” (June 28,2019-May 1, 2025) and “Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960” (April 28, 2017-June 2, 2019). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): The artist Archibald Motley captures this socially dynamic and vibrant area of Chicago during the 1930s. This area, called Bronzeville, is named after the skin color of the people who lived there. Poet Langston Hughes described the neighborhood as having “excitement from noon to noon.” That you couldn’t recognize the difference between midnight and day time. You can see a diverse group of people walking around in Bronzeville. Workers, gamblers, prostitutes, pimps, church folk, police officers, sinners, and children. All socializing together.… Motley explored the convergence of high and low culture. He wasn’t interested in social decorum or racial uplift. He chose to use humor and caricature to inspect social stratification in America. Especially in the African American community.
 


CARL POPE | Educator Lauren Ridloff explores “Some of the Greatest Hits of the New York City Police Department: A Celebration of Meritorious Achievement in the Community,” 1994 (engraved trophies) by Carl Pope (b. 1961). The work is about police brutality and the artist’s research of killings at the hands of New York police officers between 1949 and 1994. The installation was featured in the group exhibition “An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017” (Aug. 18, 2017-Aug. 27, 2018). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


THEASTER GATES | Educator Lauren Ridloff shares “Majority Minority,” 2012 (decommissioned fire hoses and vinyl on plywood) by Chicago artist Theaster Gates (b. 1973). The work was acquired by the Whitney Museum of Art in 2016 and has been featured two major group exhibitions—“An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017” (Aug. 18,2017-Aug. 27, 2018) and “Edges of Ailey” (Sept. 25, 2024-Feb. 9, 2025). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): [Theaster Gates] collected the materials from his hometown in Chicago. He uses decommissioned fire hoses as his material. He uses them as a reference to several moments in history. Gates references that abstract art failed to engage with the civil rights movement. Because abstract art wasn’t engaging with the movement, he made a point to do so. He uses fire hoses because they were a tool to control Black people during protests.
 


JACOB LAWRENCE | Educator Lauren Ridloff describes a narrative series by Jacob Lawrence (1917-2000) that reflects his experience serving in the military during World War II. “The War Series” is composed of 14 paintings made from 1946-47. The paintings have been featured in a few exhibitions, including “Where We Are: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1900–1960” (April 28, 2017-June 2, 2019) and “Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence” (May 25, 2001-Jan. 30, 2003). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): Lawrence served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II. During that time he was given the rank of Steward’s Mate. It was the only rank given to African American soldiers. His experience during World War II was extreme. He said his ship became “a hospital ship” as it transported over five thousand injured troops back home. Lawrence felt that it was not possible to verbalize what he saw. That it would cheapen the experience. So instead we see how he processed those experiences through his paintings.
 


DREAD SCOTT | Educator Lauren Ridloff considers “A Man Was Lynched by Police Yesterday,” 2015 (nylon). The work is by New York artist Dread Scott (b. 1965) whose artistic statement begins: “I make revolutionary art to propel history forward.” The banner was featured in the exhibition “An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017” (Aug. 18,2017-Aug. 27, 2018). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 
    Lauren Ridloff (partial video transcript): …this flag is a reference to the NAACP, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. They would set-up anti-discrimination campaigns. Every time there was a lynching, they would send up a flag. It said “a man was lynched yesterday.”The NAACP flew the flag from 1920 until 1938. Recently, in 2015 in South Carolina a man named Walter Scott was pulled over for a broken brake light. He got into an argument with the police and he fled. The policeman shot him in the back and he died. The artist Dread Scott immediately thought of this flag. He made this flag which is almost the same as the NAACP’s but he added two words “by police.”
 


SENGA NENGUDI | Educator Lauren Ridloff explains “Internal I,” 1977, refabricated 2014 (nylon hosiery) by Senga Nengudi (b. 1943). Based in Colorado Springs, Colo., Nengudi developed her practice in the 1960s and 70s during the Black Arts Movement in Los Angeles. A trained dancer, she uses sand and nylons to explore movement and the the “expansion and elasticity of the human body.” The sculpture was featured in the exhibition “An Incomplete History of Protest: Selections from the Whitney’s Collection, 1940–2017” (Aug. 18, 2017-Aug. 27, 2018). | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


GLENN LIGON | On the occasion of “Glenn Ligon: AMERICA” (March 10-June 5, 2011), artist and educator Christine Sun Kim introduces the artist’s practice. The mid-career survey of Glenn Ligon (b. 1960) was presented at the museum in 2011. In this ASL video, Kim discusses several works featured in the show. | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 


WILLIAM POPE.L | In this ASL video from a dozen years ago, artist and educator Christine Sun Kim talks with William Pope.L (1955-2023) about his “Skin Set Drawings” (2001-2005). The series explores the complexities of language and the social constructions of race, gender, and identity. The drawings were featured in the group exhibition “Blues for Smoke” (Feb. 7-April 28, 2013). Kim conducts the interview with the assistance of Denis Kahler, an ASL interpreter. | Video by Whitney Museum of American Art

 

FIND MORE See all of the ASL videos from the Whitney Museum of American Art on Youtube

FIND MORE about various access programs at the Whitney Museum of American Art

 

FIND MORE about artist and activist Christine Sun Kim, her Deaf education work at the Whitney Museum of American Art, and her firs museum exhibition on Culture Type

 

BOOKSHELF
“Christine Sun Kim: All Day All Night” was published to accompany the exhibition of the same name, currently on view at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, through Sept. 21, 2025. The mid-career survey is Christine Sun Kim’s first major museum show. “Whitney Biennial 2019” documents the biennial that featured Kim’s series of Degrees of Deaf Rage drawings, alongside works by John Edmonds, Simone Leigh, and many other artists. The work of some of the historic artists highlighted in the ASL videos is documented in publications such as “Elizabeth Catlett: A Black Revolutionary Artist and All That It Implies,” “Over the Line: The Art and Life of Jacob Lawrence,” and “Ed Clark: The Big Sweep: Chronicles of a Life, 1926–2019.” The following volumes explore the work of some of the contemporary artists featured in the ASL videos: “Simone Leigh,” “Diedrick Brackens: darling divined” and “Deana Lawson: An Aperture Monograph,” as well as “Theaster Gates: Young Lords and Their Traces” and “Theaster Gates (Phaidon Contemporary Artists Series).” There is “Senga Nengudi: Topologies” and “Senga Nengudi: Populated,” which explores five decades of the artist’s work and is forthcoming in August. Additional titles include “William Pope.L: Black People Are Cropped: Skin Set Drawings 1997–2011” and “Pope.L: Proto-Skin Set.” Also consider the exhibition catalog “Glenn Ligon: AMERICA” and “Glenn Ligon: Distinguishing Piss from Rain: Writings and Interviews,” a recently published collection of writings by the artist.

 

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