AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art toward a School of Thought
Formed on the South Side of Chicago in 1968 at the height of the civil rights, Black power, and Black arts movements, the AFRICOBRA collective created a new artistic visual language rooted in the culture of Chicago's Black neighborhoods. The collective's aesthetics, especially the use of vibrant color, capture the rhythmic dynamism of Black culture and social life. In AFRICOBRA, painter, photographer, and collective cofounder Wadsworth A. Jarrell tells the definitive story of the group's creation, history, and artistic and political principles. From accounts of the painting of the groundbreaking Wall of Respect mural and conversations among group members to documentation of AFRICOBRA's exhibits in Chicago, New York, and Boston, Jarrell outlines how the collective challenged white conceptions of art by developing an artistic philosophy and approach wholly divested of Western practices. Featuring nearly one hundred color images of artworks, exhibition ephemera, and photographs, this book is at once a sourcebook history of AFRICOBRA and the story of visionary artists who rejected the white art establishment in order to create uplifting art for all Black people.
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AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art toward a School of Thought
Formed on the South Side of Chicago in 1968 at the height of the civil rights, Black power, and Black arts movements, the AFRICOBRA collective created a new artistic visual language rooted in the culture of Chicago's Black neighborhoods. The collective's aesthetics, especially the use of vibrant color, capture the rhythmic dynamism of Black culture and social life. In AFRICOBRA, painter, photographer, and collective cofounder Wadsworth A. Jarrell tells the definitive story of the group's creation, history, and artistic and political principles. From accounts of the painting of the groundbreaking Wall of Respect mural and conversations among group members to documentation of AFRICOBRA's exhibits in Chicago, New York, and Boston, Jarrell outlines how the collective challenged white conceptions of art by developing an artistic philosophy and approach wholly divested of Western practices. Featuring nearly one hundred color images of artworks, exhibition ephemera, and photographs, this book is at once a sourcebook history of AFRICOBRA and the story of visionary artists who rejected the white art establishment in order to create uplifting art for all Black people.
29.95 In Stock
AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art toward a School of Thought

AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art toward a School of Thought

by Wadsworth A. Jarrell
AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art toward a School of Thought

AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art toward a School of Thought

by Wadsworth A. Jarrell

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Overview

Formed on the South Side of Chicago in 1968 at the height of the civil rights, Black power, and Black arts movements, the AFRICOBRA collective created a new artistic visual language rooted in the culture of Chicago's Black neighborhoods. The collective's aesthetics, especially the use of vibrant color, capture the rhythmic dynamism of Black culture and social life. In AFRICOBRA, painter, photographer, and collective cofounder Wadsworth A. Jarrell tells the definitive story of the group's creation, history, and artistic and political principles. From accounts of the painting of the groundbreaking Wall of Respect mural and conversations among group members to documentation of AFRICOBRA's exhibits in Chicago, New York, and Boston, Jarrell outlines how the collective challenged white conceptions of art by developing an artistic philosophy and approach wholly divested of Western practices. Featuring nearly one hundred color images of artworks, exhibition ephemera, and photographs, this book is at once a sourcebook history of AFRICOBRA and the story of visionary artists who rejected the white art establishment in order to create uplifting art for all Black people.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781478000563
Publisher: Duke University Press Books
Publication date: 05/08/2020
Series: Art History Publication Initiative
Pages: 320
Product dimensions: 7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Wadsworth A. Jarrell is a cofounder of AFRICOBRA and a visual artist who has taught art at Howard University, the University of Georgia, and Spelman College.

Table of Contents

Illustrations  x
Black Art and the Black Aesthetic  xv
AFRICOBRA: Principles and Philosophy  xvii
Foreword / Richard Allen May III  xxi
Acknowledgments  xxv
Introduction  1
Black in Chicago  19
Genesis  41
The Wall of Respect  49
The Inception  75
A Visual Art Proposal  91
First Cobra Exhibition  109
Recruitment  119
AFRICOBRA I  129
AFRICOBRA II  171
AFRICOBRA III  209
Postscript / Edmund Barry Gaither  241
Exhibitions  247
Reviews and Media Interviews  249
AFRICOBRA in Art Collections  251
AFRICOBRA in Books  253
Notes  255
Artist Biographies  263
Index  271
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