How would you describe this person’s expression? What emotions do you associate with these colors? How do artists create works of art that empower people and imagine a more just future?
Let’s start by looking closely at how this woman is depicted. She is placed in the center of the painting, filling the majority of the space on the canvas. Her mouth is open as she speaks into the microphone she holds in her hand, and her eyes look left into the distance, somewhere beyond the frame. Her hairstyle radiates like a halo around her head. The bright, vibrant colors almost seem to pulse with energy, and the whole composition - from her central position, to the lines that lead from the bandolier-like trim of her jacket, to the vivid colors around her head - pulls the viewers’ eyes again and again towards her face.
The artist, Wadsworth A. Jarrell, incorporated various words throughout the painting; in fact, they actually make up the figure, her clothes, and her background as though they were tiles in a mosaic. Looking near the woman’s face we can see the words “Beautiful,” “Resist,” and “Seize the time;” near her head is the phrase “Get ready for revolution.” These are phrases of the Black Power Movement, which was thriving when this painting was created in 1971. The Black Power Movement sought to fight racial, economic, and political inequities experienced by African Americans, and to empower black communities in all facets of their lives. Jarrell belonged to a black artist collective known as AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), which sought to demonstrate the “expressive awesomeness that one experiences in African art and life in the U.S.A.” through the use of bright colors and inclusion of meaningful text. The artists in the collective were interested in shining a light on the richness and abundance of joy, beauty, and resilience of their communities.
Over the woman’s shoulders are the words: “I have given my life to the struggle. If I have to lose my life to the struggle that’s the way it will have to be.” These words were spoken by the subject of the painting herself, Angela Davis. Davis is a professor, activist, and prominent member of the Black Power Movement. At the time of this painting, Davis was fleeing a warrant for her arrest in connection with the murder of a prison guard - an accusation of which she was later found not guilty. In an interview, Wadsworth Jarrell stated that, when painting public figures like Angela Davis, he “presented their positive strength as leaders. During the 1960s, most African American artists rooted their art in the European aesthetics taught them in art schools. In AfriCOBRA we were more interested in developing an aesthetic rooted in African American and African cultures - a new language, which we called an African American or Black aesthetic. Ours was art for the people.” Looking at the painting, how do you think the “positive strength” of Angela Davis has been communicated? What tools has the artist employed? How does this change the way you see the painting?
Davis remains an active advocate of racial, gender, and economic justice. In 2016, she was asked by an interviewer, “Is the struggle endless?” Davis responded: “I would say that as our struggles mature, they produce new ideas, new issues, and new terrains on which we engage in the quest for freedom. Like Nelson Mandela, we must be willing to embrace the long walk toward freedom.”
Black lives matter. The lives of Black people deserve to be held sacred and to be protected; Black people deserve to be free of violence. The experiences of Black people need to be heard and believed. We live in a country where this is not the case and has never been the case, and it is the responsibility of those of us who continue to benefit from systems of white supremacy to engage in the work of taking those systems apart and joining in the radical reimagining of what society can and should be. It is and will be an ongoing process; it is work that may never be "finished" and it is work that cannot be allowed to fall to the wayside when the news and social media feeds have focused attention elsewhere. For me, it means understanding my own positionality, how I can contribute to the work of people who know much more than me, and how I can listen to others more deeply. As a white, cisgender woman I struggle with how I can be a part of that long walk to freedom, and how I can be an ally and an advocate while amplifying the voices of people of color. Jarrell’s painting of Angela Davis reminds me to consider whose voices I listen to, when I listen to them, and how I listen to them. In a similar way, this painting asks those questions of artists and institutions as well. How can artists use their voices to empower and imagine a more just world today? How can art, artists, and art institutions be used as positive vehicles for moving our communities and our nation to a place of greater equity? Join us in the comments below to continue the conversation.
Posted by Christina Marinelli Wadsworth A. Jarrell (American, born 1929). Revolutionary (Angela Davis), 1971. Acrylic and mixed media on canvas, 64 x 51 in. (162.6 x 129.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 2012.80.18. © artist or artist's estate
