ART + ACTIVISM

Can art change the world? How have artists—in the past as well as the present day—sought to bring about change? Artists throughout recent history have sought to make changes in the world and its people, using their work to advocate for their views of how things should be. This impulse towards activism has been especially prevalent—at least in Europe and North America—since the middle of the nineteenth century, when the art world has been increasingly dominated by a related series of avant-gardes. Literally considering themselves part of the cultural and intellectual vanguards, artists in the era of modernism have sought to use their art to bring about widespread and sustained societal change. This portfolio is designed to share a number of ways in which both historical and contemporary artists have sought to harness the power of aesthetics in the name of activism.

Emory Douglas (American, b. 1943)

This and related works by Emory Douglas, who served as the Black Panther Party’s Minister of Culture from 1967-1982, express the idea of Black Power during the Civil Rights era. They are also— aesthetically as well as ideologically—connected to a range of leftist anti-colonialist liberation movements from the 1960s and 1970s.

Accession Number: 2017.15.12

Title: Under the circumstances, the gains of revolution can be safeguarded against U.S. fascist aggression and the security of the people defended only when we reinforce our own defense power and are ready for action at all times

Date: 1969

Medium: Offset lithograph on paper

KEYWORDS

Black power; Civil Rights; postcolonialism; revoluiton; Black Panthers; solidarity; activism. VIEW

OBJECT FILE

Guillermo Galindo (Mexican, b. 1960)

This work by Guillermo Galindo consist of assemblage instruments created from objects left behind by immigrants while trying to cross the USMexico border, and highlight the human aspect of the immigration crisis. The title, Ropófono is a play on words composed of the Spanish ropa (clothes) and gramófono (gramophone), suggesting that the clothing that makes up the piece can tell (or sing) the stories of those who once wore the garments while attempting to enter the US.

Accession Number: 2018.19

Title: Ropófono

Date: 2013

Medium: Wood, contact microphones, immigrants clothing

Rights: Image courtesy of the artist

KEYWORDS

immigration; borders; Mexico; politics; music; family; policy; material culture; activism. VIEW

OBJECT FILE

Philip Guston (American, b. in Canada, 1913-1980)

Philip Guston famously abandoned the Abstract Expressionist style that made him famous later in his life, switching to a figurative mode that was influenced by American comics as well as by the increasing urgency he felt about American racism and antisemitism, both historically and in his time.

Accession Number: 1982.10.5

Title: The Street

Date: 1970

Medium: Lithograph

Rights: © The Estate of Philip Guston, courtesy Hauser & Wirth

KEYWORDS

Holocaust; antisemitism; racism; comics; popular culture; activism.

VIEW OBJECT FILE

Josh Kline (American, b. 1979)

Mimicking the shape of a flat screen television, Josh Kline’s work interrogates the nature of American identity and patriotism in the era of reality TV.

Accession Number: 2019.2.26

Title: Reality Television 7

Date: 2019

Medium: LNylon flags, polyurethane, epoxy, microfiber, mounting hardware

Rights: Image courtesy of Modern Art Ltd.

KEYWORDS

television; American flag; patriotism; media; nationalism; activism; social criticism.

VIEW OBJECT FILE

Jacob Lawrence (American, 1917-2000)

One of the foremost artists of the Harlem Renaissance, Jacob Lawrence was especially well known for his multiple series of works depicting the lives of famous figures from Black history. This print, dating from late in his career, commemorates the successful revolt of enslaved people on board the Portuguese slave ship La Amistad in 1839.

Accession Number: 1995.26

Title: Revolt on the Amistad

Date: 1989

Medium: Silkscreen

KEYWORDS

Black history; revolution; anticolonialism; freedom; anti-slavery; activism.

VIEW

OBJECT FILE

Gordon Parks (American, 1912-2006)

Taken as part of an assignment to document Southern segregation for Life magazine, this large color photograph depicts the separatebut-unequal serving windows at a roadside ice cream stand. It also presents a powerful vision of the Black family during segregation.

Accession Number: 2020.1.4

Title: Untitled, Shady Grove, Alabama

Date: 1956

Medium: Archival pigment print

Rights: © The Gordon Parks Foundation

KEYWORDS

segregation; journalism; Civil Rights; family; Black history; documentary; media; activism.

VIEW OBJECT FILE

Pedro Reyes (Mexican, b. 1972)

In this multi-part sculpture, Pedro Reyes revels in the strength of protest as a revolutionary force. He values both the individual and collective strength needed to create change. The group alludes to forms of public protest that engages both the visual and auditory senses.

Accession Number: 2017.6.36

Title: Protestor I, II, III, IV

Date: 2016-2017

Medium: Steel and concrete

KEYWORDS

protest; demonstrations; politics; denounce; collective change; ally; visibility; activism.

VIEW

OBJECT FILE

George Tooker (American, 1920-2011)

George Tooker—a gay artist during a time of widespread discrimination—made a series of works depicting his neighbors in 1950s Brooklyn. He was drawn by the couples, many of which were interracial, and their senses of easy intimacy.