CROSS- LEVEL LECTURE 3 - ART IN THE AGE OF BLACK POWER

Lynne Fanthome – Cross Level Lecture 3 - “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power. “- TATE

In the third lecture Fanthome discussed the Tate Modern’s recent exhibition exploring Black Art in the years 1963-1983. The show has a heavy political backdrop to it; illustrating the artists making work at the heart of the Civil Rights movement. Fanthome highlighted key artists reactions to the movement and a variety of approaches to battling racial stigmas of the era.

“Artists took different visual strategies to communicate a fight back, to restore dignity to their race.”
Fanthome mentioned the curation of the exhibition, not on a linear timescale however work was sectioned to styles and responses from the east and west coast of America.

It’s interesting to think of abstract art as a strategy for communicating change. Black artists using the history of abstract art as being liberal, a statement about freedom to channel their opinions of racial repression .

Fanthome discussed “Black consciousness” {THE BLACK CONCIOUSNESS MOVEMENT -}  Symbolism and Icons utilised by American Sportsmen, putting the fist up. Black gloved hand raised. GESTURE -performative?  Semiotic communication. Tommie Smith – “black America will understand.”

* Jean Michel Basquiat – An artist not in this exhibition or mentioned by Fanthome. But of the 80s era, heavily influenced by sports and liberation- Used the Black power fist as a motif in some of his paintings.

“Sport was an important source of inspiration for Basquiat.
Jack Johnson was the first African American world heavyweight champion. You’ll notice in ‘Jack Johnson’ (1982) that the canvas has been draped and fixed to an industrial pallet – like a shrine to the boxer.
It’s a simple portrait – his arm raised in a moment of triumph. Or possibly a gesture to the raised fist of the Black Power movement. Basquiat may well have been interested in Johnson’s complex personal life: he dealt with significant racial prejudice and was often profiled in the media for his relationships with white women.”




Further Artists/Reading

SMOKEHOUSE ASSOCIATES – MELVIN EDWARDS, WILLIAM T WILLAIMS, GUY CIARCIA, BULLY ROSE Community murals in Harlem, New York City.

JAMES BALDWIN – The black experience in America or “Black A” and how it relates to the Caribbean and Great Britain. Communicating solidarity. Poetic language – “I am not your Negro” References to Vietnam. Power Struggles- Internationally – Modern Imperialism.

EMERY DOUGLAS – Political posters, graphical posters.

DANA CHANDLER - Figuring Black Power – ‘Black expressionist’

FAITH RINGGOLD – American people series, violence.

JASPER JOHNS – American culture

MELVIN EDWARDS - Lynch Fragments – evocative, agricultural, shackles, slavery, weapons.

EAST COAST ABSTRACTION – SENGA NENGUDI - internal 2 – nylon tights – feminist artists, bodily references.