Art That
” We are advocates of the abloition of war…We do not want war; But war can only be abolished through war and in order to get rid of the gun it is necessary to take up the gun.”
-Chairman Mao
Wow how true is this!
The weather in LA has been crazed lately, over 5 inches of rain has fallen just for the month of January, there was an avalanche in Wrightwood, Ca which is only about an hour drive from Downtown. Despite the bombardment of the elements a few of us ventured out to to check out the MOCA’s presentation of Emory Douglas and his Poster art of the 1960’s. Emory was the Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party, and became an active member at he age of 22 in 1967. His anti-establishment attitude and satirical artistic style were greatly influenced by the Dada and Russian Avante-Garde movements. I was blown away by the amount of anger and oppression that was displayed in the posters and quotes by many revolutionary leaders as Che Guevara, Chairman Mao, Malcolm X, Angela Davis. The art that was displayed was not just posters on a wall it was a pictorial history of oppression and violence that the African American community faced in the 60’s and 70’s, and a call to action and retaliation. This is the kind of art that i love, it communicated a direct idea and spoke out against an oppressive society. All art I believe is created for a purpose, the artists has an idea or statement that he or she wants to make and then does that through a specific medium. I believe that the art of Emory Douglas trumps many artists for the sole purpose of being part of an actual movement(s) in changing the course of history. So if you get a chance please go and see for yourself and see one of americas most understated artist of the last century.
-PW
