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| Nation Time by Gerald Williams courtesy of deYoung Museum, San Francisco |
Do you know these names?
Wadsworth Jarrell or Barkley L. Hendricks?
Benny Andrews or Cliff Joseph?
Elizabeth Catlett or Emma Amos?
No?
I didn't either.
If you do, you are much more culturally aware than I am.
I didn't know these artists until I walked through "Soul of a Nation" at the deYoung Museum. The exhibit showcases black artists' work from 1963 to 1983, a time when the Black Power Movement flourished and helped to define what being a black American meant.
Why haven't I seen these works before? I wonder. Many of them make powerful statements about the civil rights movement, the lives of black individuals, and our cultural values.
Reading the artists' statements and viewing the paintings, sculptures, and mixed media images reminded me how much I need to learn. Some of the work such as "Eve the Babysitter" by Emma Amos, could be, on the surface, considered part of the European art tradition of painting portraits. The painting shows a strong, confident woman sitting near a child. Only when I turned to Betye Saar's "The Liberation of Aunt Jemima" did I think of Amos' painting in the light of the perpetuation of the idea of the "happy mammy" from Confederate times.
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| Eve the Babysitter by Emma Amos courtesy of deYoung Museum |
The exhibit is unsettling as it should be.
If you lived in the Bay Area in the 1970s, you might have seen a series of billboards in Oakland created by Cleveland Bellows. His images resonate today. He worked in a time of social protest, but he called his work, social reality instead. Now that we seem to be moving closer to a national discussion about race, his art ideas make us want to understand the ambivalence within his images. One is of a boy with his hands over his head. Is he dancing, holding his hands up to keep from being arrested, or protesting? You decide.
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| One of 10 billboards in Oakland created by Cleveland Billows in the 1970s courtesy of the deYoung Museum |
What an eye opening experience, Martha. I have been following activist/writer Rachel Cargle's Black History is American History series on Instagram this month. Her daily prompts have provided such education and inspiration. Much to reflect on and decide!
ReplyDeleteYes, you can't stop learning and exploring new or hidden avenues.
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