African American Art
Art exists as a branch of philosophy. It refers to the process or the product after intentionally arranging similar or different elements in ways that appeals to one’s senses and insight of emotions. Art is characteristics of various elements, foremost art components include film, music, pottery, painting, sculptures, a range of human activities; traditional and modern creations. Art is intended to portray certain aesthetic or communication agendum through ideas, senses or emotions (Marilina, 2010). As a component of culture, art reflects the socio-economic and political paradigm of societies. Through art, ideas and components of a community are transmitted onto the next generations. Art is dynamic and constantly evolves through time and space, thus its liquid nature.
African American art refers to various forms of visual arts belonging to the American black community. The art is influenced by different cultural tradition paradigm that includes artwork from Africa, Europe, Asia and the American artwork (Richard, 2005). The artwork includes different physical forms such as pottery, painting, plastic art, and wood carving. African American art of the 18th and 19th century reflected on the traditional African cultures but later in the 20th century, it was more of recognizing the black community concerning the American space. During the early 20th century, the most significant aesthetic movement in African American art was the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.
In the 1950s through the start of the novel millennium, there was continuing development of abstract art and black expressionism and realism (Oxford Art Online, 2020). In the 190s African American art pioneered in various exhibitions such as Black Art- Ancestral Legacy, Dallas Museum of Art. Currently, African American art revolves around African American history and black identity through different forms of visual arts.
Reference
Marilina Maraviglia. (2010) About Art – What Do We Really Mean — Smashing Magazine. Retrieved 2 June 2020, from https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/07/what-do-we-really-mean-by-art/
Oxford Art Online. (2020). African American Art. Retrieved 2 June 2020, from https://www.oxfordartonline.com/page/african-american-art
Richard Powell. (2005). African American Art; essay by Richard Powell. Retrieved 2 June 2020, from http://tfaoi.org/aa/5aa/5aa219.htm