The Rise of African American Artists in the Twentieth Century

Welcome Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the art exhibit based around the increasing acceptance and popularity of African-American artists between the 1950s and 1980s. Here you will see artwork from Florida’s famous Highwaymen, a group of twenty-six African Americans consisting of twenty-five men and one woman. They began painting Florida landscapes in the early 1950s up to the 1980s. They traveled all along the Florida coast selling their art, since no museum at the time would buy art from unknown African-Americans. Their art was surreal, realistic, and impressionable. Each painting was done by an individual member and over the years they began to develop their own personal styles as you will see today. When they first started out, the Highwaymen sold their paintings for only $25 each. Now they have turned into rare, and expensive collectibles. Another African-American painter, performance artist, and sculptor, whose artwork is also on display, is David Hammons. Hammons is best known for his unique body prints. He was able to create these images by coating himself in grease and placing himself against the paper. In these body prints, Hammons creates a nuance, ironic feel, by creating political commentaries out of his art. He also used non-conventional objects in some of his pieces, like chicken parts, bottles of wine and even elephant dung. Having a black, urban background, he used these props to confront cultural stereotypes and racial issues of African-Americans. These artists have had a profound impact on the artistic realm, one group showing the realism and surreal nature of art while the other artist is unconventional but still acclaimed, showing us his own style of what would be considered kitsch art.

Now that you have reached the end of our exhibit not only do I hope that you enjoyed yourselves, but I hope you have learned from our artists how to appreciate something even if it is not worth much to others. David Hammons was able to express himself by using things others saw as trash and created magnificent art from it. He created his own unique style and he, along with the Highwaymen created new techniques not yet thought of by other well known artists. The realistic, surreal landscapes mixed with the unorthodox pieces, were to show you the variety that these African-American artists were able to produce. They are some of the most well known artists of their time and their art works are quite valuable and renowned. They started off as unknown artists but made their way up in society as great African-American artists through the unique art they produced. These artists also represent this idea of nonconformity and I hope you have also learned from this exhibit that you should not be ashamed to embrace it. Be yourself as you create your own artistic vision of the world.