Angela Davis–Seize the Time is an exhibition in two parts: a historical account of the two years after her arrest, and contemporary responses to Davis as black feminist intellectual and revolutionary icon. In 1970 Angela Davis, a 26-year-old black activist and philosophy instructor at UCLA, was accused of involvement in a courtroom shoot-out that resulted in the deaths of four men. She was put on the FBI’s Most Wanted List and spent several months as a fugitive before being arrested in New York. Her image became the focal point of an unprecedented international effort to free an incarcerated black woman until her acquittal in 1972. The exhibition provides a nuanced account of Davis’s arrest, incarceration and trial through archival material, from court sketches to correspondence. It also examines the ways in which Davis remains a vital source of inspiration for contemporary artists by showcasing seven artists whose work asserts her influence on their practice.
Angela Davis–Seize the Time
- Institution
- The Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum, Rutgers University
- Grant Cycle
- Fall 2019
- Amount
- $50,000
- Type of Grant
- Exhibition Support
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/01_AP-Wirephoto_Seale_at_Rally_Sept_8_1971-620x878.jpg)
AP Wirephoto
“Seale At Rally For Angela,” December 08, 1971
Gelatin silver print
Lisbet Tellefsen Archive
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/04_Catlett_Angela-Libre_1972-932x878.jpg)
Elizabeth Catlett (American and Mexican, 1915–2012)
“Angela Libre,” 1972
Screenprint on foil, 23 5/8 x 27 (60 x 68.6 cm)
Lisbet Tellefsen Archive
© 2020 Catlett Mora Family Trust / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/07_Federal-Bureau-of-Investigation-FBI_Wanted-by-the-FBI_Aug_19_1970-879x878.jpg)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
“Wanted by the FBI,” August 19, 1970
Poster
Lisbet Tellefsen Archive
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/09_3Green_Partially-Buried-Triptych_1970_ZAM_1996.0188.003-1172x850.jpg)
Renée Green (American, born 1959)
“Partially Buried Triptych (1970 at Large),” 1996
Photolithograph, lithograph, and chine collé
Collection Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University
Gift of the Brodsky Center (formerly Gift of Rutgers Center for Innovative Print and Paper)
Courtesy of the artist and Free Agent Media
Photo Peter Jacobs
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/11_Lugo__To-Disarm-Angela-Davis-Harriet-Tubman_ZAM_2020.002.001AB-1157x878.jpg)
Roberto Lugo
“To Disarm: Angela Davis Mugshot,” 2019-2020
Stoneware, china paint, enamel, and gun parts
Collection of Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University
Photo Wexler Gallery
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/13_National-United-Committee-to-Free-Angela-Davis-and-All-Political-Prisoners_greeting-card_1971-643x878.jpg)
National United Committee to Free Angela Davis and All Political Prisoners
“Greeting Card (reproduction of Charles White’s Love Letter, 1971),” 1971
Bi-fold card
Lisbet Tellefsen Archive
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/14_Ringgold_Women_Free_Angela_1971.jpg)
Faith Ringgold (American, born 1930)
“Women Free Angela,” 1971
Lithograph
Lisbet Tellefsen Archive
© 2020 Faith Ringgold / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
Courtesy ACA Galleries, New York
![](https://warholfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/17_Schneider_Abigail_2014-721x878.jpg)
Carrie Schneider (American, born 1979)
“Abigail Reading Angela Davis (An Autobiography, 1974),” from the series “Reading Women”, 2014
C-print
Image courtesy the artist and Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago
1987
On February 22, 1987 Andy Warhol died unexpectedly from complications following routine gallbladder surgery at the age of 58.