African American Men and Women's Art as an Example of the Most Effective Methods of Struggle for Civil Rights
The struggle of African American men and women for civil rights and equality in the United States is a kind of phenomenon that has gone far beyond the usual protests. Black men and women were equal in their struggle and chose the most effective methods of resistance to the difficult circumstances related to racism and discrimination. What happened was that art and public activity became an effective method of struggle for civil rights, in which the most courageous African Americans demonstrated their tenacity. With the help of photography, paintings, cinematography, and music, African Americans have tried to show the state of the United States that they were no worse than the white population and that they were proud of their race. In this confrontation, both men and women from the African-American diaspora made a huge contribution into the world art, having won the final victory in the struggle against racism.
Black Women Artists
It is known that black women have made an invaluable contribution to the development of both local and world art. One of these women is Gloria Jeanne Watkins, who works under the pseudonym bell hooks. She is one of the most famous African American writers, who struggles against racial and sexual discrimination all her life. Russel Ferguson's book Out there: Marginalization and Contemporary Cultures has a chapter in which bell hooks examines the racial problem of African Americans in the context of marginalization. In her reflections on marginalization, she cites the example of ordinary black people living in the small town of the State of Kentucky; the writer claims that the one who relates to marginalization is a part of it, but is separate from the main body. She also claims that marginality should be identified more than "just a site of deprivation". "It is also the site of radical possibility, a space of resistance". Hooks points out that marginalization determines its importance by means of awareness of its opposition: "understanding marginality as position and place of resistance is crucial for oppressed exploited, colonized people."
Another remarkable person and the representative of African American art is Adrian Piper, who worked on the philosophical aspect of racial inequality in addition to art. Piper's art education contributed to the creation of many paintings of collage type, as well as various complexity video installations. Moreover, Piper adapted "several devices of Performance and Conceptual art in her own investigation of the "visual pathology" of racism". In her article titled The Triple Negation of Colored Women Artists, she describes the difficulties that arise as a consequence of expression of black artists and reveals the essence of repression on the part of critics and other artists. The artist describes the cases in which her works were subjected to severe criticism because the art of blacks "deserves no discussion". In addition to the problems of racism, Piper also discusses the problem of sexism, arguing that "racism and sexism always go together". In addition, the artist recalls the merits in solving the problem of racial discrimination against several journalists. She writes about the work of Michael Brenson who studied the problems of rejection of black artists' art by publishing their statistics in the New York Times.
Black Male Artists
According to Golden Thelma, "black masculinity represents an amalgam of fears and projections in the American psyche which rarely conveys or contains the trope of truth about the black male's existence." Undoubtedly, Romar Bearden is one of the most famous representatives of the African American art, whose activities are mentioned in Claudia Mesch's work. The author introduces Bearden' creativity to the reader as an example of the Harlem Renaissance, describing the artist's picture Conjur Woman painted in 1964. Romar Bearden was born and raised in Harlem, thus, the majority of his works were devoted to his life experience as a black citizen. The author mentions the Montgomery Bus Boycott and that blacks Protestants adhered to the ideology of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. In addition, "enormous cultural change also contributed to independence movements in Ghana, Algeria, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zaire (now Congo), among other countries."
A completely independent art was formed on the basis of the struggle for civil rights, manifesting itself through painting. "African visual culture foreshadowed the new ideology of post-colonialism: the work of several artists from the continent anticipated the cultural and political changed of the African era of independence." For example, African artists' modern art in "Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ivory Coast, South Africa, and Benin collectively rejected Wester, colonialist notions of "primitivism." Romar Bearden was among its main representatives of this rejection. With the help of photomontage and mnemonic associations, Bearden showed observer fragments from his childhood. His works and innovative technique drew the public's attention to the life experience of the US black population, forcing many people to change their views on the African-American diaspora. Another vivid representative of that era was Ernest Mancoba. This important "pre-independence African painters" began to "merge visual modernism with forms unique to African culture." According to Mesch, this movement has its roots in "the art and literature of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s", which has changed the comprehension of the African Americans' art as an example of the struggle for a free self-expression.
The picture Conjur Woman by Romar Bearde may be considered the most important artwork herein. His technique and talent of a black diaspora's life depiction has played a major role in strengthening the position of African-American art. Bearden's paintings became world famous and contributed to a resolution of the racial inequality problem. Conjur Woman can be considered one of the most important work for the development of the art genre such as the Harlem Renaissance. In addition, the picture has some elements of Pop Art, which always appeals to the public's attention. Precisely, Adrian Piper's works favored the development of racial and gender equality in the history of world art and beyond. The artist has a large number of works of different genres and styles, but her philosophical and theoretical activities provided in the articles can be considered her main contribution. Piper opposed racism and sexism in the art. To overcome this problem, the artist had to overcome a thorny path to reach the top of her self-development, where she was able to create masterpieces.
Bibliography
Ferguson, Russell. 1990. Out There: Marginalization And Contemporary Cultures. New York, N.Y.: New Museum of Contemporary Art.
Foster, Hal. 2009. Art Since 1900. Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. Volume 2, 1945 To The Present. Princeton, N.J.: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.
Golden, Thelma. 1994. Black Male: Representations Of Masculinity In Contemporary American Art. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art.
Jones, Amelia. 2003. The Feminism And Visual Culture Reader. London: Routledge.
Mesch, Claudia. 2013. Art and Politics: A Small History Of Art For Social Change Since 1945. London: I.B. Tauris.
