Eileen Abdulrashid (also known as Elieen Nelson) is an American artist and craftsperson who is known for her work in enamel on copper.

Early life and family

Eileen Abdulrashid is

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, she grew up in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and then spent time in Illinois. Her cousin is the artist

Senga Nengudi Senga Nengudi (née Sue Irons; born September 18, 1943) is an African Americans, African-American visual artist and curator. She is best known for her abstract sculptures that combine found objects and choreographed performance. She is part of a ...

. Abdulrashid studied at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

, the

American Academy of Art The American Academy of Art College was a private for-profit art school in Chicago, Illinois. It was founded in 1923 for the education of fine and commercial arts students. In July 2024, the college announced its pending closure. History The ...

in Chicago (now known as American Academy of Art College), and the Institute of Design in Chicago (which merged to become the

Illinois Institute of Technology The Illinois Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Illinois Tech and IIT, is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the m ...

in 1949).

Career

Abdulrashid is known for being a part of the first exhibition of contemporary African-American women artists in the United States, ''Sapphire: You've Come a Long Way, Baby'' held at Suzanne Jackson's Gallery 32 in Los Angeles in 1970. Other participating artists included

Betye Saar Betye Irene Saar (born July 30, 1926) is an American artist known for her work in the medium of Assemblage (art), assemblage. Saar is a visual storyteller and an accomplished printmaker. Saar was a part of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s, w ...

, Gloria Bohanon, Suzanne Jackson,

Yvonne Cole Meo Yvonne Olivia Cole Meo (1923–2016) was an African American artist known primarily for sculpture and printmaking. Born in Seattle, Washington, Meo lived in Southern California for most of her life, primarily in Altadena. Education and work life ...

, and Senga Nengudi (listed as "S. Irons"). She also held a solo show at Gallery 32 in 1970, ''The Structural Flow of Our Environment: Eileen Abdulrashid''. Abdulrashid was one of nineteen artists featured in the Mills College Art Gallery-organized, traveling exhibition ''1970 California Black Craftsmen'' (1970), alongside Gloria Bohanon, Sheryle Butler, Hubert Collins, Dale Brockman Davis, Ibibio Fundi, Manuel Gomez, Vernita Henderson, Ernest Leroy Herbert, Ben James, Bob Jefferson, Doyle Lane, William Maxwell,

Evangeline Montgomery Evangeline Juliet "EJ" Montgomery (born May 2, 1930, in New York City, New York) is an American artist. Known primarily for her metal work, she has also worked as a printmaker, lithographer and curator. She received the Women's Caucus for Art L ...

John Outterbridge John Outterbridge (March 12, 1933 – November 12, 2020) was an American artist and community activist who lived and worked in Los Angeles, California. His work explores the issues surrounding personal identity such as family, community and the e ...

, Donald R. Stinson, Carole Ward, Curtis Tann, and Harry S. Richardson. She attended the National Conference of Artists in New York with artists

David Hammons David Hammons (born July 24, 1943) is an American artist, best known for his works in and around New York City and Los Angeles during the 1970s and 1980s. Early life David Hammons was born in 1943 in Springfield, Illinois, the youngest of ten ...

, and Dan Concholar in 1973. Abdulrashid has exhibited at a number of galleries in both Chicago and Los Angeles. In Chicago she has shown works at the Art Institute, Fie Gallery, H. Horner Gallery, South Side Art Center, Arts Gallery, and the East Gallery. Los Angeles venues have included the Brockman Gallery, Gallery 32, and the Central 1015 Gallery. At an exhibition at the Foyer Gallery in the Marin County Civic Center in 1975, her works included paintings, drawings, sculpture, and enamel-work, and they incorporated a wide variety of materials.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abdul-Rashid, Eileen Artists from California Living people School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni Year of birth missing (living people) African-American artisans 21st-century American artisans 21st-century African-American artists 21st-century African-American women artists Illinois Institute of Technology alumni 20th-century American women artists 21st-century American women artists