We Flew Over the Bridge: The Memoirs of Faith Ringgold

Faith Ringgold began her artistic career in the 1960's as a painter, but is best known for her painted story quilts and her children's books such as the award-winning TAR BEACH. Her memoirs, first published in 1995 and reprinted in this 10th Anniversary Edition, were actually begun in the late 1970's after she returned from a trip to West Africa, a time when she herself was still very much a "work in progress" personally and professionally. Then again, Faith Ringgold will always be evolving; this is not a woman content to rest on her many laurels. A memoir is revealing on two levels: since it's selective remembering, what the author chooses to tell us about herself ends up telling us something additional. WE FLEW OVER THE BRIDGE is candid, sometimes humorous, sometimes bordering on bitter, and almost quilt-like as she pieces together a wide range of topics, from the intensely personal to political and professional. Harlem at the close of the Renaissance, the art world's resistance to nonwhite artists, Black Power's resistance to feminism, combining marital life and parenthood with a career - all are viewed through her unique lens. For example, raised in a solidly middle-class environment by a mother who was a fashion designer and who inspired her interests in fabric art (and even collaborated at times), Ringgold seems to have felt overdressed at the revolution. She doesn't quite "fit in" but then again, I'm not sure she wanted to; she creates her own routes of activism. To any aspiring artist, I'd especially recommend Part III: Making Art, Making Waves, and Making Money. In addition to 40 beautiful color plates illustrating her work (mostly the story quilts), the book has numerous black and white photos of her family, associates, performance art and early paintings. You can keep up with her current work at FaithRinggold.com.

a must read biography of one of the most important artists of the country. A book about a Black Woman Fine Artist telling her story is a rare find and unsurprisingly interesting, poignant, insightful, triumphant.