Born in 1933 in New York City, Evangeline “EJ” Montgomery is recognized as a pioneer of Black political jewelry and objects made from gold, bronze, copper, and silver as well as uncut stones and rock crystals. Her work includes sterling-silver ancestral boxes and incense burners inspired by her mother’s tradition of writing an intention on a piece of paper, burning it in an incense burner, and praying over it. Montgomery’s work, which also includes painting, prints, and fiber art, has been compared to that of Alma Thomas due to their shared “rhythmic syncopation” and ability to “build a sense of depth and a rich surface” in their work.[1]
Montgomery’s first job after high school was painting faces on dolls and religious statues. Following her marriage, she moved to Los Angeles, where she worked for African American jewelry designer Thomas Usher. Montgomery studied with local craftspeople in 1954/55 and earned a BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts, specializing in metallurgy. After briefly living in Nigeria, Montgomery moved in 1965 to the San Francisco Bay Area, and in 1967 founded Art West Associated North (AWAN) in San Francisco to bring greater visibility to the work of local Black artists. She explained, “I felt the need for Black artists to get together and to make a group statement concerning the role of the Black artist in his community.”[2] Montgomery exhibited her artwork at Black colleges and in Black communities in the Bay Area, including the Hunter’s Point neighborhood. She was also the Black art consultant for the Berkeley-based Black cultural center Rainbow Sign, where she managed exhibitions and programming, and for the Oakland Museum.
Montgomery moved to Washington, DC, in 1980 and joined the US Information Agency in 1983, an organization that later merged with the Department of State and Cultural Programs, which gave her a platform to elevate such artists as Margo Humphrey to an international level. She also helped establish African American sculptor Sargent Johnson’s legacy to the Harlem Renaissance. Montgomery curated over two hundred exhibitions with the African American organization known as the National Conference of Artists. She stopped working in metal in 1994, following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.
PMA Collection
Notes
[1] Carter 2017, 59.
[2] Montgomery 2021, 89.
References
Carter, Nanette. 2017. “Nanette Carter on Evangeline ‘EJ’ Montgomery.” In Magnetic Fields: Expanding American Abstraction, 1960s to Today. Edited by Erin Dziedzic and Melissa Messina. Kansas City, MO: Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art.
“E.J. Montgomery.” The Berkeley Revolution. Accessed February 15, 2022. http://revolution.berkeley.edu/e-j-montgomery/.
Kirkham, Pat, and Shauna Stallworth. 2000. “‘Three Strikes Against Me’: African American Women Designers.” In Women Designers in the USA, 1900–2000; Diversity and Difference. Edited by Pat Kirkham. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Lewis, Samella S. 2003. “Evangeline Montgomery.” In African American Art and Artists. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Macklin, A.D. 2001. A Biological History of African-American Artists, A–Z. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
Montgomery, Evangeline. 2021. “Why New Perspectives in Black Art?” In The Soul of a Nation Reader: Writings by and about Black American Artists, 1960–1980. Edited by Mark Godfrey. New York: Gregory R. Miller.
Trescott, Jacqueline. 2014. “The Artist Lovingly Known as EJ.” International Review of African American Art. Accessed February 15, 2022. http://iraaa.museum.hamptonu.edu/page/The-Artist-Lovingly-Known-As-EJ.
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