Radical Presence chronicles the emergence of black performance practices in contemporary art. Where hegemony has tended to define black performance art as an extension of theater, this publication provides a critical framework for discussing the history of black performance within the visual arts over the last 50 years. Over five decades of performance art practices by such artists as Benjamin Patterson, David Hammons, Senga Nengudi, Lorraine O'Grady, Adrian Piper and Ulysses Jenkins are presented along representatives of subsequent generations such as Carrie Mae Weems, William Pope.L, Terry Adkins, Sherman Fleming, Danny Tisdale, Lyle Ashton Harris, Clifford Owens, Kalup Linzy and Adam Pendleton, among others. This publication includes a DVD compilation of performance excerpts and is an essential tool for any understanding of the field.