Black Panther: The Revolutionary Art of Emory Douglas, is a compelling book of photographs that traces the searing graphic art made by Emory Douglas while he worked as Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party.
Douglas's iconic work helped create the identity of the party, defining the trademark visual style. His work also serves as a powerful testament to the efficacy of visual art to communicate a political position.
From 1967, the year Douglas joined the Black Panthers, to its discontinuation in the early 1980s, the party cultivated a strong identity that was often described as cutting-edge, militant, and revolutionary.
Douglas's potent visual form illustrated the Black Panthers' concerns in all of their printed materials, including tabloids, pamphlets, newspapers, and posters that were wheat-pasted onto walls from New York to Los Angeles.
Inspired by Malcolm X's call to resist violence and brutality by any means necessary, the Black Panthers formulated the iconic image of the revolutionary-black beret, black leather jacket, and rifle-and their protest graphics often utilized an exaggerated cartoon style that excoriated racist politicians, landlords, capitalists, and police, caricaturing them as grotesque pigs and rats. Douglas's work reveals an unmistakable humanism nevertheless, portraying a populace that had been denied access to the American dream, but were emerging from segregation and proudly fighting to assert their rights to equality. He gives visual shape to the plight of urban mothers and the humanitarian work undertaken by the Black Panthers to bring social services to their communities.
Douglas's early development and notable, visual style were influenced by the Black Arts Movement and well-known artists like Charles White, Sargent Johnson, Ruth Waddy, and Elizabeth Catlett. In particular his signature, scathing graphics and collages can be understood in the context of the Soviet avaunt-garde and the anti-fascist works of George Grosz, Käthe Kollwitz, John Heartfield, and Ben Shahn.
Douglas was also influenced by and had an influence on political graphics in China, Africa, and Vietnam, as well as the Cuban graphics collective the Organization of Solidarity of the People of Asia, Africa and Latin America (OSPAAAL). Relationships to Douglas's iconic works can be found in artists as varied as Faith Ringgold, Raymond Pettibon, David Hammons, Kerry James Marshall, and Mike Kelley and his impact on filmmakers such as Spike Lee and popular musicians such as Public Enemy has also left an indelible mark on American culture.
The following book is included free with this auction:
THIS SIDE OF GLORY :THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF DAVID HILLIRD AND THE STORY OF THE BLACK PANTHER PARTY
- 1993 1st Edition 1st Printing hardcover
- Very good clean dust jacket
- Tight binding. Like new boards
- 450 very clean pages
- 16 pages of photos
- Also Includes free USPS shipping and delivery confirmation
Art on Paper "...gives much needed space to Douglas' work with numerous full-page reproductions."
New York Times "Douglas finally gets his due."
New York Times Book Review "...these lost visual artifacts are faithfully preserved and contextualized. Douglas finally gets his due." "Handsomely designed..." "Douglas' art was never brought into mainstream commerce the way hip-hop art and design were, so today it is as powerful as similar expressions by Goya, Daumier, George Grosz and other great political artists."
Identitytheory.com "...this tome collects some of the potent and resonant images and collages Douglas created..."
About the Contributors:Sam Durant is a Los Angeles-based artist.
Danny Glover, the accomplished actor, producer, and director best known for his Lethal Weapon movies, attended San Francisco State during the years the Black Panther party was active in the Bay Area. He's credited the party with having a profound influence on both his creative development and political consciousness.
Amiri Baraka is a writer and political activist who lives in Newark, New Jersey.
Kathleen Cleaver, attorney, author, and senior lecturer at Yale University and Emory Law School, joined the Black Panther Party in 1967. St. Clair Bourne is a veteran filmmaker. Colette Gaiter is an associate professor at the University of Delaware.
Greg Morozumi is artistic director of the East Side Arts Alliance in Oakland, California.
Sonia Sanchez is a poet.
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