Because Black Lives Matter
African American Artists through their action and their art show that Black lives matter to them.
Last year exhibition of Kerry James Marshall body of works at the MOCA and three current exhibitions in Los Angeles: Mark Bradford at Hauser and Wirth, “Soul Recordings” at Luis de Jesus Los Angeles and “Sankofa” at the Watts Tower art center remind us that yes, indeed, Black Art matters because it shows that Black Lives matter.
Like African-American Artist from Los Angeles, Charles Gaines, said in an interview after an exhibition at the Hammer Museum in 2015 “The entire history of art is political”
Here is below a non exhaustive list of interesting commitments by LA Artists
LA-based Artist Betye SAAR who is now 91 years old, was a part of the Black Arts Movement in the 1970s, which engaged myths and stereotypes about race and femininity.
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ART+PRACTICE
https://www.artandpractice.org/exhibitions/
LA artist, Mark Bradford is not only talented, he uses his fame and money to create an art center in South Los Angeles: Art + Practice
Art + Practice encourages education and culture by providing support services to foster youth predominantly living in South Los Angeles through its collaboration with First Place for Youth. A+P also provides free, museum-curated art exhibitions and moderated art lectures to the community of Leimert Park.
Founded by artist Mark Bradford, philanthropist and collector Eileen Harris Norton, and community activist Allan DiCastro, Art + Practice (A+P) is private operating 501 (c)3 foundation based in Leimert Park Village, Los Angeles that supports the needs of its local foster youth and provides the community with access to museum-curated contemporary art. A+P occupies a nearly 20,000 square-foot campus, where it directs its programs and activities.
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BAILA (Black Artists in Los Angeles) https://www.facebook.com/groups/BlackArtistsInLosAngeles/
BAILA is a collaborative, cooperative coming-together of community-minded artists and arts activists for the purpose of the focusing, empowering, structuring, positioning and growth of BAILA (Black Artists in Los Angeles). BAILA Core members are carefully chosen for their focus, drive, achievement, individual talents, commitment, vision and communication skills.
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The Watts Tower Art Center https://www.wattstowers.org/
the founding Director of WTAC was acclaimed LA artist Noah Purifoy
The Watts Towers Arts Center has served as a beacon of light for arts education and a conduit for social change. It continues to support and present master artists and to nurture aspiring young people. (….) During the last weekend of September, Watts Towers Arts Center produces the Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival and the Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival. Both events embrace the concept of multiculturalism and draw crowds from all parts of the city and around the world. The Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival is dedicated to percussion and the traditional role of drumming in human societies. The Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival, the oldest festival in Los Angeles, pays tribute to the American music forms of Jazz, Gospel, and Blues and takes it to the Avant Garde and Latin Jazz scene.
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CAAM , CALIFORNIA AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSEUM
The museum has an “actvism” program like current one with Eric Huggins https://caamuseum.org/programs/current/reclaiming-our-time-radical-self-care-now-ericka-huggins
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MAALA, MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN ART
current exhibition through March 24, 2018:
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Nationally, other African American Artists have delivered and still deliver a strong message. Most of them (Charles Gaines is missing..Betye Saar is missing…) are gathered in a book after the exhibit “30 Americans” at the Rubell’s Foundation.
Kehinde Wiley
Louis XIV of France (The World Stage: Haiti), 2014 – Oil on linen – 60 x 48 in
30 Americans showcases works by many of the most important African American artists of the last three decades. This provocative exhibition focuses on issues of racial, sexual, and historical identity in contemporary culture while exploring the powerful influence of artistic legacy and community across generations. All of the artworks in the exhibition are from the Rubells’ permanent collection.
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Last but not least, the City of Los Angeles last “month celebration” was in February 2018 about the African American Heritage
http://culturela.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/2018aahm-calendarCulturalGuide.pdf
