The Wall of Respect:
In 1967 Birmingham native William Walker, who had studied art but was working as a mail sorter in Chicago, got the idea to paint a Black achievement mural on the facade of a grocery and liquor store building located at 43rd Street and Langley Avenue on the city's southside. Under the auspices of The Organization of Black American Culture (OBAC), Walker and a number of other artists affiliated with the organization (including Wadsworth Jarrell and Barbara Jones-Hogu) created a wall of portraits of 50 notable African Americans in music, athletics, politics, etc. Called The Wall of Respect, it triggered a national mural art movement and inspired the formation of the artist group AfriCobra.
AfriCobra
(Initial members of AfriCobra)
Jeff Donaldson, Jam Pact Jelly Tite for Jamila
The History, Philosophy and Aesthetics of AFRICOBRA
Published in 68/08 on Dec. 6, 2008
by Barbara Jones-Hogu
From the Archives
Originally published in Afri-Cobra HI (Amherst: University of Massachusetts at Amherst, 1973). Revised by the author, Chicago 2008.
Barbara Jones-Hogu
In 1968, a group of artists came together at the request of Jeff Donaldson in the studio of Wadsworth Jarrell to discuss the premise that Black visual art has innate and intrinsic creative components which are characteristic of our ethnic group. The artists who were present at the meeting consisted of painters, printmakers, textile designers, dress designers, photographers and sculptors who felt that their visual expression was definitely affected by the fact that they were Black and that their Blackness contributed a specific quality to their visual expression. Many of the artists at the first meeting were members of a visual art group which was then defunct, the Visual Workshop of OBAC (Organization of Black American Culture)—who created the Wall of Respect in Chicago in 1967. This mural became a visual symbol of Black nationalism and liberation.
Once the artists concluded that we had specific visual qualities intrinsic to our ethnic group, a future meeting was set for each person to bring in their work for analysis by the group. At that meeting the following visual elements were selected: bright colors, the human figure, lost and found line, lettering and images which identified the social, economical and political conditions of our ethnic group. When we had found our common denominators our next step was to ponder whether a group of Black artists could transcend the “I” or “me” for the “us” and “we” in order to create a basic philosophy which would be the foundation of a visual Black art movement. We wanted to create a greater role as Black artists who were not for self but for our kind. Could we sacrifice the wants of self and ego in order to create the needed
positive visual images of our people? Yes, we can!
A nucleus of artists felt that a collective effort was possible under a common philosophy and a common system of aesthetic principles. The basic nucleus was composed of Jeff Donaldson, painter-teacher; Wadsworth Jarrell, painter-photographer, Jae Jarrell, clothing designer, Barbara J. Jones (Hogu) painter-printmaker-teacher, and Gerald Williams, painter-student. We had all noted that our work had a message: it was not fantasy or art for art’s sake, it was specific and functional by expressing statements about our existence as Black People. Therefore, we began our philosophy with functionalism. Functional from the standpoint that it must communicate to its viewer a statement of truth, of action, of education, of conditions and a state of being to our people. We wanted to speak to them and for them, by having our common thoughts, feelings, trials and tribulations express our total existence as a people. We were aware of the negative experiences in our present and past, but we wanted to accentuate the positive mode of thought and action. Therefore our visual statements were to be Black, positive and direct with identification, purpose and direction. The directness of our statement was to be conveyed in several ways:
A. The visual statement must be humanistic with the figure frontal and direct to stress strength, straight forwardness, profoundness, and proudness.
B. The subject matter must be completely understood by the viewer, therefore lettering would be used to extend and clarify the visual statement. The lettering was to be incorporated into the composition as a part of the visual statement and not as a headline.
C. The visual statement must identify our problems and offer a solution, a pattern of behavior or attitude.
D. The visual statement must educate, it must speak of our past, present, or future.
Black, positive, direct statements created in bright, vivid, singing cool-ade colors of orange, strawberry, cherry, lemon, lime and grape. Pure vivid colors of the sun and nature. Colors that shine on Black people, colors which stand out against the greenery of rural areas. Cool-ade colors, Black positive statements stressing a direction in the image with lettering, lost and found line and shape were the beginning elements which created COBRA, the Coalition of Black Revolutionary Artists.
As COBRA began activating their philosophy we felt that everyone should work on a particular theme, the Black Family. The group met every two weeks to analyze and criticize the progress of each member as they completed their composition. These critiques became extremely important since it gave the artist a chance to work independently and jointly while having a group of his peers point out his strengths and weaknesses. As each artist developed his expression in a COBRA philosophy and aesthetics we moved on to the second theme, “I am Better Than Those Mother Fuckers,” and we are. When the second theme was finished we dropped the idea of a definite theme and decided to start identifying problems, and solutions to problems, which we as Black people experience. Therefore in the third work and thereafter each artist worked on a theme which he felt was pertinent to our existence as a people.
At this point Napoleon Henderson, the weaver, joined the group and we moved from five to six which later changed to seven as Nelson Stevens, painter-printmaker came into the group. Yet we continued to grow with Carolyn Lawrence, painter; Omar Lama, a draftsman in pen and ink; and Sherman Beck, a painter and illustrator. During the same period of time we moved from COBRA to African COBRA to AFRICOBRA, an African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists. We moved from a national perspective to an international perspective. All Black people regardless of their land base have the same problems, the control of land and economics by Europeans or Euro-Americans.
The change from COBRA to AFRICOBRA also crystallized our philosophy and aesthetics, such as:
The Philosophical Concepts
1. IMAGES, a commitment to humanism, inspired by African people and their experience, IMAGES which perform some function which African people can relate to directly and experience. The art is the people, people reflect their art, and the art is for the people, not for the critics.
2. IDENTIFICATION, to define and clarify our commitment as a people to the struggles of African peoples who are waging war for survival and liberation.
3. PROGRAMMATIC, art which deals with concepts that offer positive and feasible solutions to our individual, local, national, and international problems.
4. MODES OF EXPRESSION, that lend themselves to economical mass production techniques such as “Poster Art” so that everyone that wants one can have one.
5. EXPRESSIVE AWESOMENESS, that which does not appeal to serenity but is concerned with the eternally sublime, rather than ephemeral beauty. Art which moves the emotions and appeals to the senses.
The Aesthetic Principles
(These principles were not only drawn from the work of the artists in the group but were also drawn from our inheritable art forms as an African people.)
1. FREE SYMMETRY, the use of syncopated, rhythmic repetition which constantly changes in color, texture, shapes, form, pattern, movement, feature, etc.
2. MIMESIS AT MID-POINT, design which marks the spot where the real and the unreal, the objective and the non-objective, the plus and the minus meet. A point exactly between absolute abstractions and absolute naturalism.
3. VISIBILITY, clarity of form and line based on the interesting irregularity one senses in a freely drawn circle or organic object, the feeling for movement, growth, changes and human touch.
4. LUMINOSITY, “Shine,” literal and figurative, as seen in the dress and personal grooming of shoes, hair (process or Afro), laminated furniture, face, knees or skin.
5. COLOR, Cool-ade color, bright colors with sensibility and harmony.
As we expanded our philosophy we developed as a group who created messages that dealt with the past, to give definition to our existence, in the present, to identify the images and activities of our present situation, and the future that would show a direction toward purpose and solution. Our endeavors and thoughts culminated in 1970 in TEN IN SEARCH OF A NATION, an exhibit which was held at the Studio Museum in Harlem. The work we exhibited was on view to educate and was not for sale. We did not want to promote individual gain of the images but we did want to stress a unified effort of giving our messages to the people. We had plans to create poster prints of the work so that everyone could have some AFRICOBRA messages. Our endeavor was well received. It was the first time that most of the viewers had seen a group of artists jointly working together toward a concerted philosophy with images which stated to Black people “Unite,” “Unite or Perish,” “We Will Build Here or Nobody Will,” because “I Am Somebody,” “I Am Better.”
Each artist dealt with their images in different perspectives. Nelson Stevens dealt with the spiritual aspect of nation building in Jihad, Uhuru, and Ujamma; he wants “to get as close as possible to the jihad… to images of those brothers and sisters who have never existed before,” while Jeff Donaldson dealt with the modern Amos and Andy who are not for Toming but are seriously dealing with our problems with an advanced weapon. His Oshun, Oba and Yansa, the Wives of Shango (God of thunder and lightning who balances all debts), are three sisters who are ready for combat with bullet, belts and guns; while the “Shango Shortys” are dealing with their past in the tensions of today in a high- strung society of crystal clear glass.
Carolyn Lawrence wants to “Take the past and the present and make the new image.” She records her concepts in Pops, a tribute to an old man, while in Manhood she pointed a direction of responsibility for all men. Jae Jarrell, the dress designer, laid out strong messages on her garments with strong patterns, textures and colors of Black Family, Unity, and Manhood.
Wadsworth Jarrell stated, “If you can get to Be-Bop, you can get to me. That is where the truth is.” The rhythms of his Be-Bop can be seen in the repetitious letters and colors of Cool-ade Lester. Jarrell’s Homage to a Giant pays tribute to many pertinent leaders, such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson, Fred Hampton, Huey P. Newton. His images state that we must be about Tightening Up the Game, and This Time Baby we are not going to be turned around from our objective of total liberation.
Each artist brought his peculiar talent to the commune and exhibit. Sherman Beck, a magic maker, extended himself through the magic of his medium. Although he had no titles on his work he dealt with another realm of the spiritual essence of man which could be seen and felt in his paintings. Napoleon Henderson, the weaver, looks toward himself and Africa as his future. The title of his work does not speak of the significant symbolism, bright harmonizing colors and textures in his words “Doodles” “Cool-ade Icicles” and “Bakota.”
Yesterday, today and possibly tomorrow Gerald Williams will respond to the potential for Black Nationhood and the need to develop that potential when he created I Am Somebody, Nationhood, and Wake Up to the King Alfred plan of concentration camps; while Omar Lama works toward positive images—images that will inspire Black people to a higher level of consciousness in Black Jesus, and United or Perish.
Last but not least is Barbara J. Jones, who states Black People a total people, a total force, Unite, Unite, as we learn of our Heritage as an African in a racist country in the Land Where My Father Died which need to Stop Genocide while Black men must Rise and Take Control.
We moved from Ten in Search of A Nation homeward with important feedback from our viewers which gave encouragement, inspiration and direction for the future… The future works of AFRICOBRA became stronger, more powerful and more accessible as we started creating silk screen poster prints which was another phase of our basic philosophy. The poster prints made our images available to a larger audience at a reasonable price. For the prints, which were a total group effort, we selected one work from each artist, especially those that had been exhibited in the Ten in Search Of A Nation exhibit. Carolyn Lawrence’s Manhood, the first print, enthralled everyone in the group as we finished the last color and saw the crystallization of many trials, errors and color separations. The completion of the first print produced a quick production of the next three which were Unite, Wake Up, and Uhuru. The prints which followed were African Solar, and Victory in the Valley of Esu. In the process of working on the prints, we lost Sherman Beck and Omar Lama, but we gained Howard Mallory, ceramicist-jeweler-textile designer, who did a great deal of work on producing all the prints.
In between production of the prints, we did find time to create broader visual statements about the changing conditions of our time and our people. Our new statements related the strength and determination of Angela Davis and Martin Luther King, the truth and wisdom of Malcolm X, the continual fall of Black education and the need of education to be based on the history and accomplishments of Black People. Our children have put up a tough struggle to Keep Their Spirits Free. Our images still stressed Nation Time, but emphasized: Don’t Forget the Struggle, we all need spiritual unity as featured in Spirit Sister, Wholy People, and From These Roots we gain strength. If we Get Some Land Black People, we need land to survive, for land provides the essentials which cultivate and nourish life, and We Must Go Home with Something. These images were the foundation for our AFRICOBRA II show at the Studio Museum in Harlem in the fall of 1971.
Nothing is continuously stable, and things must change, perhaps from young to old, east to west or vice versa or marching seconds of infinite time never to return. In our development we began to change; we first changed in position, time and space. The first to extend our commune was Jeff Donaldson who moved to Washington, D.C. to become the head of the Howard University Art Department early in the spring semester of 1971. Next to leave, Wadsworth and Jae Jarrell with one child at hand and one on the way, they moved eastward to Connecticut, Massachusetts, and later to Washington, D.C. The extension of our space relationship broke down our immediate communications and communal development, but it also built personal progress without the intervention of momentary feedback of criticism in our trials and tribulations which created a more responsive or irresponsive action. As we attempted communications across country we continued to work and develop but at a slower pace. Before long another AFRICOBRA member, Nelson Stevens, had made his way eastward to Amherst, Massachusetts, and what was six became five again. We began with five members in Chicago. The work of AFRICOBRA will continue to grow because we have a foundation by which we have built a strong value system of our work and a philosophy which guides us toward a common aim of artistic endeavor. The works which are exhibited in AFRICOBRA expressed the expansion of our creative effort in new media, new techniques, new styles and a new member, Frank Smith, painter.
Where will we go from here? As time moves so shall we, to a broader and more expanded commitment to our people visually, mentally, and physically. Our new visual statement shall explore the total gamut of our existence:
The Individual and the Family
A. The growth of the individual from the cradle to the grave. We will express the physical, mental and emotional changes of the male and/or female as they develop from a baby to a child to teenager—adult and old age; and in so doing, we can state their trials, their errors, accomplishments and success, their character, wisdom, foolishness, etc.
B. We will make visual statements of how we see the positive or negative relationship between husband and wife, mother and child, and father and children. What type of roles are we playing and are our roles relevant to our whole existence as a people. We will extend our visual imagery to speak of our relationship and activities of our extended family—the cousins, uncles, aunts, grandparents, godparents. How they created strong influences on our life, past or present? The family relations with other families or other groups of the same or different ethnic groups. We will identify ourselves visually at this time-space and record our daily activities, our values and the styles of our day. We will record our dances, our athletics, our hobbies, our night life, our parties, our meetings, our leaders, our labors, our children and their education.
Our Visual Image Will Be Greatly Concerned with Education
A. There are different contents of education, including the spiritual education of the family. This is not to replace spiritual education in the Christian church, but to state a need for a spiritual religion based on the needs of our people and a supreme being which reflects ourselves and our needs.
B. The humanizing aspects of education are respect, truth, and brotherhood: The role of man: the role of woman: the role of child and family to the total group. We must be concerned about establishing positive values and relationships in these aspects of education.
C. Our visual image will express the academic education of learning one’s history, circumstances and accomplishments.
D. The industrial education of producing and being productive for self and kind in the building of every component needed to run a nation.
Our Visual Image Can State Our Social Needs and Social Services
A. Health facilities and services. Visually, what is the state of health facilities and services. We will express the need to develop our own health facilities in order to safeguard the health of our people.
B. We will express the protection of safeguarding the welfare of our old, young and those in need. We must be responsible for their welfare.
C. We will visually analyze our protective forces in the police or the use of security guards. Do they actually protect and serve our communities? If not, how can this be altered? The protection of the community and all of its components should be our responsibility and should not be allocated to an opposing group.
D. We will visually express a need to establish and develop our community institutions such as cultural, social, educational and religious or spiritual centers and provoke positive actions by visually stating how these organizations should develop the philosophy and ideology of blackness and its welfare and continuous existence.
The Economic Needs
A. We will visually state types of jobs available to our people and the types of skills and professions needed to run a nation are not just those that are teachers, lawyers, and doctors; but those who are also needed are people skilled in the technology of food, clothing, and housing industries. Those who make operations run such as janitors, secretaries, programmers, repairmen, etc.
B. We will be concerned about the types of businesses and industries which must be created to be self-sufficient people.
C. We will develop new solutions to different types of needs and services which employ community personnel, yet develop and perpetuate our people as a cohesive community.
Visual Statements Concerning the Present, Past and Future Political Needs and Developments
A. What type of governmental or guidance unit should be developed and put into practice and the types of rules and regulations which should govern us as a group, which would provoke the need for government and self-governmental plans over not today but the next twenty or thirty or one hundred years. We are kept from developing future programs because we are kept in an unbalanced state of either acting or reacting to our present circumstances. These methods and solutions to constant flux can be visually stated.
B. Political and group cohesiveness is needed to build a strong Black nation and to develop our total culture. Visually we can state the need for group action toward the positive needs in a cooperative direction.
Religious Needs
A. We will develop an image which stresses a strong religion which has us as the base of its origin with the Supreme Being and the mediator reflecting our physical being. We must illustrate stronger ties between our people and for our people. We must develop a more concrete moral code.
In fact, AFRICOBRA can move toward stating and restating repeatedly the needs for organization, purpose and goals of our people for a stronger cohesive body and the need for racial nationalism. AFRICOBRA will not only state our problems and solutions but also state our emotions, our joys, our love, our attitude, our character, our total emotional and intellectual responses and feelings. Art can be a liberating force—a positive approach concerning the plight and the direction of our people. Visual imagery should bring us together and uplift us as a people into a common—a common unit, moving toward a common destination and a common destiny. WE IN AFRICOBRA SHALL HELP BRING THIS ABOUT.
(from: http://www.areachicago.org/p/issues/6808/history-philosophy-and-aesthetics-africobra/)
Assignment Question: How would you discuss the following works as images that support the missions of Africobra as expressed in the essay by Barbara Jones-Hogu? Post your comments by Midnight, Sunday, February 26.
10 comments:
The Art of AfriCobra, is an expression of a movement, and encompasses the collective thoughts and intrinsic values instilled in them by the collective minds of AfriCobra, thrusting each individual piece beyond just a single artist’s perspective. The creation of the Wall of Respect in Chicago in 1967, by the visual workshop of OBAC (Organization of Black American Culture), which became a visual symbol of Black Nationalism and liberation, formed the understanding that black artists expressions were definitely affected by the color of their skin and this factor delivered a specific quality to their work and the black arts movement which became the basis for the guidelines under which AfriCobra was founded. The use of bright colors, the human figure, lost and found lines, lettering and images were used to outline and identify the social, economic and political conditions of an ethnic group. These became the founding denominators in the groups’ basic philosophy which transcended individual artists work into a collection dedicated to the whole of the Black Arts Movement.
Barbara Jones-Hogu’s “UNITE”, is a classic example of the groups collective conscious and aesthetic. Her signature use of repetitious lettering became one of the hallmarks of AfriCobra. Hogu’s prints served to stress the importance of black independence and artistic self-determination. These aspects supported their notion of a form of un-distorted surrealism or “Super-real”, where the addition of color and stylistic expression were syncopated with the reality and consciousness of the movement.
There are a wide range of mediums and styles used by the artists of AfriCobra. Within the work of Jeff Donaldson such as “The Wives of Shango” we see the range and variety within the styles; however, we also see the similarities and the group aesthetic in play. The use of color, figures, as well as the subject matter (based on a myth from faith of the Yoruba of Western Nigeria) we can see the AfriCobra trend and the transcendence from Donaldson’s expression to one attributed to the groups model for a Black Aesthetic
Moreover, we can see this range in medium especially within the work of Jae Jarrell, who unlike the majority of artists within the group who painted and sculpted, Jarrell formed her expressions through fashion. Jarrell used the collective thoughts of AfriCobra uniquely, combining cloth and objects to symbolize the ideas, moods, styles and aesthetic of the Black Arts Movement. Though all the Artists within AfriCobra contributed a unique style and attitude within their work, collectively it reflected the attitude of many dedicated to a single movement, seen through the conformity of similar attributes outlined by the founding members.
The art and artists of AFRICOBRA shows the movement of African American Art and African American Artists in the 1960's. It all started with The Wall of Respect in 1967, located in Chicago. This mural, which was painted my multiple African American Artists, became the basis for AFRICOBRA. The work of Jae Jarrell is a perfect example of what this group was all about. She would take the subjects in her husbands work, and make clothes out of them. I think this is a wonderful example of what Africobra was about because she actually wore her fashions out on the street and to different exhibitions. People could see the work and the stand of the African American Artists and the Black Arts Movement (AFRICOBRA) everyday with her wearing these fashions on the streets. Barbara Jones Hugo's "UNITE" is another good example of the work of AFRICOBRA. In my opinion, her prints would show the want of independence and freedom that African Americans wanted in the 60's. I believe still today the work of Hugo still makes an amazing impact in today's society. The Wives of Shango by Jeff Donaldson combines colors and aesthetics from Africa and brings in the movement of Africobra as well.
AfriCOBRA is a group of African Americans artists that came together in 1968 from the inspiration of the success of The Wall of Respect. The artists is in this group felt the need to portray positive visual images of black people through elements such as : bright colors, the human figure, lost and found line, lettering and images which identified the social, economical and political conditions of our ethnic group.
Jeff Donaldson’s Wives of Shango represent AfriCobra’s visual statement to be Black, positive and direct with identification, purpose and direction. The three daughters represent proudness and profoundness, as well as strength represented through the guns and bullets they have on them. The same message can be taken from Jae Jarell’s garment which she proudly wore to exhibits and even out on the streets. Barbara Jones Hogu’s Unite shows black brethren happy and together with the word Unite repeated several times in different colors. This piece is to me a statement that educates and offers a solution which is Unite to overcome all problems when have been through, and are going through to produce a brighter future. Hogu uses the Cool-Ade colors like orange, grape, and strawberry, which are the main colors AfriCobra used to show connections to their African roots.
AfriCOBRA was formed around the basis of creating works that represent the power and importance of the Black Family. Jeff Donaldson’s “Wives of Shango” represents the power, strength and confidence of the three women being portrayed and demonstrates the AfriCOBRA aesthetic of “cool aid” colors and straight forwardness, profoundness and proudness of their culture.
Jae Jarrell’s suit also plays on this idea of pride and the figure is direct and straightforward. Especially in the fact the artist is wearing the work and is more of an interactive piece to emphasize the visual statement of pride and strength. She is not only a black woman, wearing a suit which in itself is a statement since a suit is a traditional men’s wardrobe, but it displays a strand of bullets signifying her role as a warrior.
“UNITE” by Barbara Jones-Hogu expresses the AfriCOBRA rules of the subject matter must be clear and understood by the viewer with the help of lettering to extend and clarify the visual statement. The words “Unite” is used as part of the artwork and not as a headline. It also falls in line with the AfriCOBRA style of identifying a problem and offering a solution, to unite.
The group, AFRICOBRA was based on the foundation of the Black Artist Movement, and to encompass the thoughts and values instilled in the members of the group. It began with the creation of The Wall of Respect in 1968. The Organization of Black American Culture, or more commonly called OBAC, created this piece and it became a visual symbol of the Black Nationalism and liberation. This piece was made to express that the artist's art was based on the color of their skin, and not by the message within the artwork. The Black Arts Movement was the main foundation on which AFRICOBRA established their guidelines. This group of particular artists used bright colors, the human figure, and lost and found again lines to personify social, economic and political conditions of the ethnic group. These techniques were used through out this group and others and revolutionized the way people viewed the Black Arts and all who contributed to it. An outstanding example of AFRICOBRA's artwork was one of it's very own member's, Barbara Jones-Hogu's "UNITE", in which she used lettering to help make clear the visual statement of the print or piece. The single word "Unite" is used in the art piece to evoke a solution and for all to come together. Another example of the innovative work of AFRICOBRA is the work of Jae Jarrell, who took her work to the streets and established it in physical form such as fashion. These fashion works were business suits for women and had bullets sewed in them. Jarrell's work brought about ideas of strength and being straightforward with the movement. All of these artworks and many others during the period still have a sense of proud ness and strength that are still relevant today. The artists, I believe wanted to create something worthwhile and for the generations to come.
AfriCOBRA was more than a accumulation of artists, it was a fervent call for freedom originated on a set of theoretical yet tasteful principles. In the strive for equality within the African American community, AfriCOBRA symbolized these concepts through their artwork. Barbara Jones-Hogu set apart her artistic voice of the AfriCOBRA movement by saying, “[Our art] must communicate to its viewer a statement of truth, of action, of education, of conditions and a state of being to our people. We wanted to speak to them and for them, by having our common thoughts, feelings, trials and tribulations express our total existence as a people.” Barbara did just that as she incorporated those ideas into her art. My favorite part about Barbara's art is the idea of unity she weaves into each piece. Almost every piece of art she made with afriCOBRA had the word 'unite' or 'together' in it. It was very important to her that the black community work together to rise above the stigma that they were placed under.
Africobra founded itself securely in several philosophical principles and a commitment to serve the Black Community in specific ways. These images by Barbara James-Hogu illustrate the various missions and principles of Africobra. Barabara James-Hogu first discusses the functional foundation intended for the art of Africobra. This functionality is expressed through her images in literal and figurative ways. In the first image, this piece of art, an African woman in an outfit by Jae, functions first as a wearable set of clothing. The images also possess high functionality because they are easily mass-produced in the form of poster prints. Secondly, these images function to educate a higher truth of empowerment, celebration of identity, and unification. Hogu’s women, wearing the styles of Jae and the colors of African association, scream to the viewer, ‘We are strong, proud, relentless women of color.’ “Unite” likewise evokes a truth of strength in solidarity and the beauty of uniting in a cohesive community. In this way, these images carried out their philosophical mandate of being functional artworks within society while also promoting another founding mission of the group. As stated by James-Hogu, Africobra established itself on the merits of being “a group of Black artists [that] could transcend the ‘I’ or ‘me’ for the ‘us’…”. These images represent the transcending spirit of the group, which elevated the community with positive reinforcement of identity, pride, ability, and worth. Most obvious in “Unite”, James-Hogu succeeded in placing emphasis on the whole, rather than an individual. Even the other images, while they do not depict a group, illustrate a sense of identity and belonging to a larger group that would be felt among its viewers. By functioning in society as identifiable images of a positive black self-awareness, with purpose and direction in unifying and empowering the black community, these images by Barbara James-Hogu exemplify the work of Africobra.
These three pieces of art although all different types of media do all show characteristics of Africobra. The first picture, I believe it to be watercolor, depicts three African American woman holding themselves up in a “diva” stance. The two women in front are both putting weight on one side of their body with their heads turned away. While the woman in the back is facing straight forward in a more “warrior” like stance. The stance that the two women in the front are portraying can been seen as showing their “I am better” face. Making the audience realize that the women being portrayed are not just two black women but black in the sense of strength, determination, and commitment to their race, family, and self. The woman in the WHITE dress is showing her “I am better” face. Taking a straight forward stance shows the audience that this woman is in fact more than just a warrior but is also outspoken women that is showing her voice through her facial expressions. Another characteristic about this picture (that shows it is Africobra) are the colors. Yellow, orange, green, and white are all strong primary colors. Using bright vivid colors, or as Barbara Jones Hogu said “cool aid colors” draw the audience in as well as catching their attention to finally realize that this picture is more than just what fits the eye. This picture in fact is actually a portrait of the black female race, tying everyone together to stand up “as one for one” and face the world. The second photograph is a black and white media of a single subject. This woman is standing in the middle of a city street face forward. While people in the background seem to be going “haywire” the lady is showing peace and tranquility. In the essay we read there was a list of Economic needs from africobra, the needs seem to be circulated around job opportunities. Notice in the back ground of the photograph there are other figures running around as well as paper falling in the back. I think here the paper is supposed to be interpreted as more than just paper but a sign of a crashing economy. While the people in the back ground (past) are going chaotic the woman in the front (future) is standing still and holding her composure. The audience could see these as troubling times have happened but better times are here. The last and final work of art also shows traits of africobra by the colors, figures and texts. The colors are “cool aid colors” raspberry blue grape purple and strawberry red. All three are vivid and catches a viewer’s attention by the wink of an eye. Along with the figures showing strength the motion they are holding is a sign for black power. Formally used during the Black Panther party, many African Americans grew up with this motion to show their strength. This motion is probably one of the most known and most powerful signs around the globe, when one sees this motion one is overcome with a sense of belonging. But the strongest element of the whole painting is the text that is used in the abstract form “UNITE”. The word unite isn’t just seen as a head line for the picture but the plot as well. This word sets the mood and or tone of the painting. The word unite is a strong action verb. I like how in this painting the viewer doesn’t just see a word but a story unfolding. When I viewed these paintings I didn’t just see black faces showing strength, I saw a black community showing their determination and their pride of their race and self.
The three images displayed follow all the guide lines that AFRI-COBRA (the African Community Of Bad Relevant Artist)Set forth. To understand one must look at the original COBRA (The Coalition Of Black Revolutionary Artist) COBRA set the pace and attitude of the African Arts movement with there revolutionary attitude. Cobra set the rules that the visual statement were to be Black , Positive and direct. They achieved this by using the 4 rules: A. Humanistic, frontal, strength, profoundness and proudness. B. Must be completely understood lettering to be used to be completely understood. C. Identify the problem and offer a solution. D. Must educate. The when COBRA Became AFRO-COBRA It added the philosophical context: 1. Image. 2. Identification. 3. Programmatic. 4. Mode of expression. 5 Expressive Awesomeness. In the first image you have three African American women wearing bullet belts and striking a defiant stance the “Cool Aid colors” drawing attention to the center figure looking you straight in the eye. The image makes the statement that I am strong I am a force to be reckoned with. The second photographic image is of a strong African American woman. The fashion suggested Revolutions and defiance strength and confidence. I became we and the words Unite are cast as an astetic value in the third image These images could be made into posters so that everyone could have the inspiration that the images inspired.
The first piece, “The Wives of Shango” by Jeff Donaldson, definitely serves as a visual statement for AfriCOBRA as defined by Barbara Jones-Hogu. She states that part of AfriCOBRA’s mission is to create art that emphasizes “strength, straight forwardness, profoundness, and proudness,” and Donaldson’s three figures convey all of these empowering attitudes. In “The Wives of Shango,” Donaldson paints a vivid picture celebrating the strength and power of African-American women. He also makes use of the “cool-ade” colors that Jones-Hogu extols, placing the piece strongly in the context of the rest of AfriCOBRA’s unified and unifying work. Jae Jarrell’s revolutionary suit expresses the values of AfriCOBRA as well. In her writings Jones-Hogu stresses AfriCOBRA’s intention “to define and clarify our commitment as a people to the struggles of African people who are waging war for survival and liberation,” and Jarrell’s suit takes this concept of waging war quite literally with its use of bullets sewn into the jacket. Lastly, Jones-Hogu’s own work “UNITE” combines many of AfriCOBRA’s social, political, and aesthetic values into one important piece. Jones-Hogu uses both cool-ade colors and text, allowing the piece to “be completely understood by the viewer.” The repetition of the word “unite” also succeeds in “[identifying] our problems and offer a solution, a pattern of behavior or attitude”- in uniting as a culture African Americans can better attain the civil rights they deserve. “UNITE” also expresses AfriCOBRA’s visual style quite cohesively, using most of the five aesthetic principles of AfriCOBRA that Jones-Hogu calls free symmetry (rhythmic repetition), mimesis (between abstraction and naturalism) at mid-point, visibility (clarity of form and line in the feeling of movement), luminosity, and color (cool-ade shades). Finally, “UNITE” was later mass-produced as a poster, and mass production of art was crucial to the goals of AfriCOBRA. All three of these works serve as unique examples of the cohesive oeuvre of AfriCOBRA.
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