AFRICOBRA
in Chicago: A collaboration between
The South Side Community Art Center, the Reva and David Logan Center for the
Arts, and The DuSable Museum of African American History
AFRICOBRA in
Chicago is a linked series of exhibitions and public programs scheduled
May–September 2013 focusing on the Chicago artist group AFRICOBRA (African
Commune Of Bad Relevant Artists), founded in 1968 and still active. The
founding members, Jeff Donaldson, Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth Jarrell, Barbara
Jones-Hogu, and Gerald Williams, came together in 1968 on the South Side of
Chicago and had a lasting impact on peers and subsequent generations. This
project examines AFRICOBRA’s broader contexts, its history, and its immediate
and continuing impact on contemporary art and culture. It will also create
opportunities for educational engagement with the collective’s work and
philosophy.
AFRICOBRA in Chicago is co-presented
by three South Side institutions: The South Side Community Art Center, the Revaand David Logan Center for the Arts at the University of Chicago, and TheDuSable Museum of African American History. Find details and dates above and
below. A jointly published website, dedicated to the exhibitions, programs, and
research, was launched in May 2013 and will see continued development through
the run of the exhibitions.
In 1968, the five founding members
of AFRICOBRA created an aesthetic philosophy to guide their collective work—a
shared visual language for positive revolutionary ideas. Several members worked
together on the “Wall of Respect,” a mural at 43rd Street and Langley in
Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood. Early exhibitions and meetings were held in
nearby Woodlawn. The group defined its mission as “an approach to image making
which would reflect and project the moods, attitudes, and sensibilities of
African Americans independent of the technical and aesthetic strictures of
Euro-centric modalities.”
In the spirit of AFRICOBRA’s
philosophy, which emphasized educational values and a group ethos (“to
transcend the ‘I’ or ‘me’ for the ‘us’ or ‘we’”), three South Side institutions
have come together in collaboration. Intense periods of adult and youth
programming will coincide with the short overlap between each exhibition
closing and the next opening.
The three interlinked exhibitions
are organized as follows:
AFRICOBRA: Prologue – The 1960s and
The Black Arts Movement
May
10–July 7, 2013
THE
SOUTH SIDE COMMUNITY ART CENTER
3801 South Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL
This opening exhibition, curated by
University of Chicago students, will draw on SSCAC’s permanent collection to
present a broader context for AFRICOBRA’s years of formation, documenting
political issues and artistic developments. It provides historical background
and contemporary context for the other exhibitions and will launch a series of
programs that will continue at the other venues. It will also afford the SSCAC
the opportunity to present recent research and conservation work on its
collection.
AFRICOBRA: Philosophy
June 28–August 11, 2013
REVA
AND DAVID LOGAN CENTER FOR THE ARTS
University of Chicago
915 East 60th Street
Chicago, IL
The exhibition, curated by Rebecca
Zorach, a professor in the Department of Art History at the University of
Chicago, who is also guiding the student-driven curatorial framework of the
SSCAC exhibition, is designed to highlight the aesthetic philosophy of
AFRICOBRA first articulated in statements and exhibition text in the late 1960s
and early 1970s. The exhibition in the Logan Center Gallery will demonstrate
how the AFRICOBRA philosophy was collaboratively developed by the five founding
members, through a presentation of key early works and selected current works,
raising the question of how founding principles continue to inform each artist.
Themes addressed include the revolutionary politics of the period, the project
of bringing art to the people through a range of media, and the relationship of
gender roles and family to the political context of the time.
AFRICOBRA: Art and Impact
July
26–September 29, 2013
THE
DUSABLE MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY
740 East 56th Place
Chicago, IL
This portion of the exhibition is
curated by Arlene Turner Crawford, visual artist, with Charles Bethea, Chief
Operating Officer and Curator of DuSable. It documents how AFRICOBRA flourished
and influenced other artists in Chicago—artists who became official members of
the group, and other artists who exhibited work in AFRICOBRA shows. The
exhibition asserts the major impact of AFRICOBRA on the visual arts in Chicago,
particularly on the South Side, in the period of the Black Arts Movement.
AFRICOBRA artists committed themselves to the principles of social
responsibility, artistic excellence, local artistic involvement and the
promotion of pride in Black self-identity. The works selected for this exhibition
highlight the continuing development of “positive images,” focusing on
AFRICOBRA’s aesthetic vocabulary and pursuing its key themes of
self-determination, African heritage and solidarity, as well as the inspiration
of music on the visual arts.
Major support has been provided by
the Terra Foundation for American Art, an organization dedicated to fostering
exploration, understanding, and enjoyment of the visual arts of the United
States for national and international audiences. To further cross-cultural
dialogue on American art, the Terra Foundation supports and collaborates on
innovative exhibitions, research, and educational programs. Additional support
for the South Side Community Art Center portion of the project has been
provided by the Chicago Community Trust. Additional support has also been
provided by the University of Chicago Arts Council.
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