Existing comment:
Struggle and Persistence
The artists whose work is on view here discovered that art provided a powerful voice in a world where they had struggled to be heard.
Ralph Fasanella believed that art was not solely for the elite and that one didn't have to be a professional artist in order to make powerful images; he understood that art could be a mighty tool for uniting the working class in a common cause.
Issues of racial oppression and poverty are recurring themes. African-American artists including William Edmondson, Thornton Dial, Hawkins Bolden, and Bessie Harvey were born in the American South during the Jim Crow era. Their families recalled slavery, worked as sharecroppers and laborers, and faced unimaginable challenges. Each used art to bear witness, record memory, carry tradition, and proclaim self-worth.
Joe Minter, Purvis Young, Herbert Singleton, and Lonnie Holley would carry this mantle forward. As young adults during the Civil Rights era, they felt more empowered than preceding generations to speak openly about oppression and injustice and to create bold works that don't apologize for the past but appeal for a better future. |