Betye Saar Black L. A. Art Movement Analysis

Art is not always pleasant, but neither is society. Art and society have a reflective relationship with one another. During social, religious, and political controversy, artists such as Frida Kahlo incorporated imagery into their portraits of society which are often disturbing to the viewer. The role of an artist often includes acting as a social critic, to show us aspects of our cultural landscape that are unpleasant. In this manner, the art acts as a commentary on the negative aspects of Western civilisation. During the thirties and forties, Kahlo incorporated the hidden realities of economic and social depression into her works.

The intersection of social movements and Art is one that can be observed throughout the civil right movements of America in the 1960’s and early 1970’s. The sixties in America saw a substantial cultural and social change through activism against the Vietnam war, women’s right and against the segregation of the African - American communities. Art became a prominent method of activism to advocate the civil rights movement. It was a way to express self-identity as well as the struggle that people went through and by means of visual imagery a way to show political ideals and forms of resistance. To examine how a specific movement can have a profound effects on the visual art, this essay will focus on the black art movement of the 1960s and

Art is something that is often overlooked and never appreciated. What constitute as art depends on individuals and their interest. There are numerous art styles that contribute to the different styles of art. Famous artist Betye Saar and Charles White both contribute to the idea that art can be done in different ways, styles and methods. Betye Saar and Charles White were two African American artist who were very successful though they had two different styles of art.

This connection between black art and politics was first made clear in a great essay written by Larry Neal in the summer of 1968. This essay illustrated the Black Arts Movement's "manifesto" or plan. Neal wrote: "The Black Arts Movement is radically opposed to any concept of the artist

Fred Wilson is an art activist for minority groups, especially the African American population, which in today`s generation, is looked upon as the unseen minority group (Grinberg 2012). Wilson creates innovative exhibitions to display art and artifacts found in museum collections with arrangements that represent minority contemporary artists. His ideas lead the audience to acknowledge that changes in the perceptive view transform the whole meaning of what is presented.

Through the artworks of artist such as Robert Colescott and Michael Ray Charles, racial stereotypes and other negative connotations associated with blacks are brought to the forefront and are challenged in innovative and aesthetic ways that are pleasing to the eye yet makes one think. Despite African Americans being subjected to ridicule due to

Richard Hunt is a sculptor whose work largely draws on abstraction, crafting organic shapes with industrial materials. His approach to his art is one that is based on compulsion, as he combines various curvilinear and angular forms to form an ambiguous hybrid that captures the African American experience. By crafting an unconventional layering of different shapes, Hunt is able to create a conceptual piece that is open to interpretation. Similarly, Betye Saar aims to promote thought-provoking reflection. By carefully utilizing racial stereotypes into her artistic vision, Saar is able to manipulate racist devices into a more positive message. Her exaggeration of certain caricatures of African American life served as a new symbol for

“Black Art” had to be a current issue that the average African American was facing at this time of century. “Black Art” is a poem that touches on a tough subject and makes you step out of your comfort zone to understand a African American person but this poem is not any target to the any color of race it is made to the average African American person. It is to give them strength and fight against this issue of race and oppression. Gives the advice to not be submissive and not to remain tactful when it comes to the issue of oppression. This poem couldn’t be used as a vehicle of escape to "another world" Baraka’s apparent rejection is only half of this poem and created a invective pattern throughout the poem.

In the video, “Against the Odds” , there were two arguments. One Blacks artist should write, draw and create all things black and African. This perspective come with a consequent. The only people that could afford to buy black art was white. If the art was too sad, angry or black the whites would not buy it. They second arguments was that Blacks should paint and crate sculptures to be sold. Many feared that they would lose their identity.

I like to believe that art was a way for Blacks to express their pain, hopefulness, and love that everything Black wanted and could just outright say was put into art; therefore, art was a happy place even though it expressed pain but in pain there is its own beauty. DuBois (1925:53) stated that even though Black art has both personal and universal aspects, that those two things are “combined with certain groups compulsion.” meaning that there was a Black person that spoke for the group through art. His thoughts would lead to black Aesthetic.

Born on September 20, 1928 in New York City, Adrian Piper is an American conceptual artist and analytical philosopher. Her work addresses race, gender, sexuality, and ostracism in the United States. She has produced an impressive body of work spanning over a period of thirty years. Although many critics believe her work depicts her autobiography, she states it is only very personal to her. She does uses her experiences and racial issues as raw material for her artwork. Because she was raised in an upper-class black family and attended a pre-dominantly wealthy, white private school, she generates work that displays how others and herself are viewed as light-skinned blacks who can pass a white. In addition, in the 1960s and 1970s there was an

Racism and Segregation circad in the novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. As the novel progresses and the main character Marguerite Johnson grows into a woman she clearly sees and describes the reality of being an African American in her time. The theme of intolerant ethnic diversity is shown and progresses to us through different aspects. Her daily life going to school and working at her grandmother's shop, to going to church and later getting a job shows the struggle and push that was needed to make it through those times.

Some of the sources of information used to support the validity of the theme in this proposal include journal articles, newspaper articles, and books. In Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals, by James Prigoff and Robin J. Dunitz. The author states that murals are a “celebration of skill, intelligence, ingenuity, imagination, and spirit that form an important thread in Black America, inspiring and shaping a culture of hope” (Coleman 10). African art is distinct in the sense that hope is integrated through metaphors, in addition, the design and shape celebrate

However, not all black artists during this time adhered to the Black Aesthetic or were committed to the Black Arts Movement. Many, including Ralph Waldo Ellison, stood conscientiously apart. He saw himself as a “spokesman for the ‘infinite possibilities’ that he feels is inherent in the condition of being an artist rather than a Negro artist” (Christianson 354). He did not see the two cultural worlds of black and white trumpeted by Amiri Baraka, Larry Neal, and other Artists of the BAM; Ellison believed art was colorblind. Furthermore, he believed mainstream culture was seeped in African American traditions and influences. Ellison believed the “themes, symbolism, rhythms, tonalities, idioms, and images” in many American artistic creations were obvious signs of the inclusion and acceptance of African American culture (qtd. Martin, Modern American Poetry).

The interesting thing for me is that he didn’t have a list for his art work or he sometimes didn’t even know what he was going to use or to do. But the magic thing is that in the end, he can put all the things together and becomes a special work that has the special thought in it. He said that a part of the work was about this sense of honor in the celebratory that the Soundsuits is fantastic. I like his work because we can immerse ourselves into the work and we can feel that is very colorful and creative. "Trayvon Martin” is a new work that was shown at Cranbrook. It was made up of a black mannequin dressed in a hoodie, sneakers and jeans. And then surrounding its body is these plastic blow molds. He saw some of the problems on today’s society. He wants to change our way of engaging with one another. And he wants to use art as a form of