Elizabeth Catlett - Art Just Not For Art Sake 1

Sharecopper

I am researching a paper for my African American Literature class and I came across an artist that I find very aesthetically pleasing and very talented but, for some reason or another, had never heard of in high school. Elizabeth Catlett, an African American sculptress and printmaker during the 1960s and 1970s black arts movement. I felt a connection with the images, black artists are treated as jokes in the mainstream, but one looks at these works and the art of suppression comes to mind. I don't think it's suppressed because it sux but because it's showing black people in a positive light and is contrary to popular opinions. Whatever the case, I enjoyed the images and am planning looking into the black arts movement even deeper now for guidance!