The diaries of a random library trip. Searching for books and stumbled upon a book regarding art during the Black Power era.
Soul of A Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power was one of our choices.
Let’s Get Into It
What’s it about
An essay, a visual book, explores the Black Art scene throughout the 60s and 70s as a culture that dealt with the Civil Rights Movement, and the formation of the Black Panther Party during the Black Power era.
Where art and culture were joining as one.
The book takes you through a series of art forms, including photomontages, contemporary art, AfriCobra, abstract, and photography by black artists like Faith Ringgold, Betye Saar, Romare Bearden, and David Hammons. While also reading essay components from Mark Godfrey and Zoe Whitley, two art historians.
What did I enjoy about the book
The book used a variety of the Black Power Movement to showcase how art was depicted. Rather, it was a political stance or protest; each artist portrayed played a part in Black Art history.
Hammons dabbled in screen printing, body paint, and texture, consistently adding new art mediums to his work. We saw how, over time, his art was unique. Or how the Black Panther graphic designer artist Emory Douglas used their witty style to make statements and create graphics that fought back at narratives and told their own stories in their style and voice.
AfriCobra used bold hues and poems as a lighter expression of the Black Power Movement. This era of art adapted pan-Africanism, and its importance in Black American culture and art.
Another great point was the contrast with artists who did not want to coin the term “black art” because they didn’t want their art to fit into the “Black Art” category or movement. They wanted to adapt as artists to all lenses.
The parallels between artists related to me how society is nowadays within the black community. Some artists and individuals classify as black musicians, black-owned businesses, while others are like, “Nah, I am for everybody, or my art doesn’t fit in one category”. During the Black Lives Matter movement, some individuals shouted, “All Lives Matter,” in opposition. In every movement, some folks agree and don’t.
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Who would I suggest this book to
If you’re someone who wants to research Black Power and is interested in learning more about art, this is a great work to read.
You learn about powerful artists during that time and how they handled the injustices around them. To some, the Black Panther Party was just a militant organization; they hired writers for the newspaper, and graphic designers creating posters to place around the “ghetto”, and its own “comic section” with satirical art. Essentially, they were their own sub-community within the Black race. It also explores how Fred Hampton was the poster child for many artists during that time because he was constantly prosecuted or portrayed by the government as a threat.
Artists like Dana Chandler painted a version of Hampton’s door using African colors to show solidarity and symbolism.
If you want to learn more about your history through a visual storybook, this is for you.
Let’s Talk About It
Have you checked out this hidden gem regarding Black art?