Jo Baker’s Bananas is the fourth work out of eleven in Faith Ringgold’s “American Collection” (1997), a series of story quilts about Marlena, a fictional Black artist. In Ringgold’s narrative, Marlena was born into affluence in Paris to Black American artist Willa Marie (protagonist of Ringgold’s “The French Collection” series) and Pierre François Simone, a white Frenchman. Following Simone’s death, Marlena and her brother are sent to the US, where Marlena becomes a successful artist.

Jo Baker’s Bananas depicts a celebration for Marlena’s exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her painting of Jazz Age performer Josephine Baker, topless and clad in a banana skirt, repeated five times as though dancing across the canvas, hangs above Marlena (the dark-skinned figure in the black dress). At the same time, Marlena struggles to break into a conversation between her brother (the light-skinned man) and a white socialite. In the background, two jazz musicians play. Ringgold offers a thoughtful meditation on the invisibility of Black women in the art world: Although Marlena and Baker are being celebrated, both are ignored, reflective of Ringgold’s own experiences.