Arts consultant Klare Scarborough partnered with Easton-based artist Berrisford Boothe on a book to document the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic impact on the lives of African- American artists.

The publication, “Shifting Time: African American Artists 2020-2021” (240 pages; 214 illustrations; $31.74, print; 2023), is a compilation of essays, poetry, artist statements, memorial tributes and images of works, co-edited by Scarborough and Boothe.

“Yellow as Gold” (2021; mixed media, 30 in. x 22 in.) by Florida-based artists Stephen Arboite and Morel Doucet graces the cover of the hardcover book.

“Shifting Time: African American Artists 2020-2021,” featuring select works from the recently-released book, continues through Sept. 2, Arthaus, Allentown.

“Artists couldn’t go into their studios. They even had to start working in smaller formats in their homes,” says Scarborough about the effect of the pandemic. “It changed the way a number of artists operated.”

“This is a distinct kind of book because it is a collection of things about a cultural moment that everybody in America has an opinion about,” says Boothe. “Everybody cares about the time shifted. It’s a marker. There are people born after the time shifted. They will not have a memory of it. Those who were born before know it.

“Covid forced us to really look at what America was,” Boothe says.

“The reflection was at once heroic and amazing in terms of people who were underpaid, undervalued, how they stepped up and literally saved our lives. And those who were overvalued and craven and how their contributions to us and our ability to come together was nil.”

In discussing one of his works, “Black Optics” (2020-2021; acrylic emulsions on wooden poplar panel, 40 in. diameter), Boothe says, “I want to do abstraction because sometimes in life, and Covid was one of them, to quote William S. Burroughs, sometimes we go beyond words, beyond what words can do. And that’s how it felt for me with Covid; it went beyond what images could do.”

The exhibition, curated by Deborah Rabinsky, includes a sampling of the artwork depicted in the book, and other pieces by participating artists.

Lehigh Valley-based artists include Curlee Raven Holton, Femi Johnson, Charles Stonewall, Anthony Smith and Boothe.

Other artists in the exhibition are Lavett Ballard and Danny Simmons, both of Philadelphia, Syd Carpenter, Swarthmore, and Jerome China, Jersey City, N.J.

“I know that ‘Shifting Time’ will always resonate because it keeps reminding us: Don’t just move forward,” says Boothe. “Something significant happened. Here’s a book about it.”

Boothe, an artist, art collector, curator and lecturer, is a founding curator of the Petrucci Family Foundation.

Scarborough, an arts consultant, curator and educator, received a Ph.D., History of Art, from Bryn Mawr College.

The book project was funded by The Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art.

“Shifting Time: African American Artists 2020-2021,” through Sept. 2, Arthaus, 645 W. Hamilton St., Allentown. Gallery hours: 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday - Saturday. Closed Sunday, Monday. 610-841-4866; refindallentown@gmail.com

The publication, “Shifting Time: African American Artists 2020-2021,” is available for purchase at amazon.com.

“Gallery View” is a column about artists, exhibitions and galleries. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com