The Haggerty dedicated to the art and artist that emerged during and after the Watts Riots in California, it is sometime called "The art of social change."
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"In contrast to the aims of the American Negro Academy, the African American artists in exile, and the Harlem Renaissance respectively, the arts projects in Watts were primarily directed toward social change and community development through the arts. Two principal objectives underlie these programs: to develop opportunities for the artists and to use art to make a difference in the lives of community residents. As artist John Outterbridge has observed, "The period of the sixties was one of enhanced vision of how art and culture could effectively participate to help build a community, break existing moulds and create an interest in social change. At the time, it was an unconventional way to use the arts. Artists were challenged to think among themselves in new ways. The artists working in the Watts community were not influenced by social activists whose methods involved violence and social disruption." In this context artists assumed roles intended to make a difference in the environment. .........."
The visual artists and writers represented in the Haggerty exhibition -- Noah Purifoy, John Outterbridge, Charles Dickson, Dale Davis, Jayne Cortez, Elliott Pinkney, Eric Priestley, and Johnie Scott all participated in community-based arts organizations in Watts during the period from 1965 to the present. Their work drew support from a wide range of sponsorship: churches, civic groups, sororities and fraternities, libraries, and city and federally sponsored projects.
Noah Purifoy
Watts Riot, 1966
Mixed media (Acrylic on burnt wood
and other debris from the Watts Riots
of 1965) 50 x 36 in. Bequest of Alfred C. Darby
California African American Museum Foundation
Noah Purifoy
Black Brown and Beige, 1989
Assemblage
68 x 113 x 6 in.
Collection at Taraís Hall,
Los Angeles
Noah Purifoy - From his days as an art student at Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles (1951-54), Noah Purifoy resisted the traditional approach to art based on drawing and painting. Instead he chose to "find his own way," inspired in part by the Dada artist Marcel Duchamp, who challenged the boundaries of art and explored the connections between every day objects and art. The Brockman Gallery director Dale Davis remembers Purifoy as an artist who challenged the community with his art. "He was controversial, not well understood but interesting to those who gathered around the Brockman Gallery." Purifoyís background as a social worker made him conscious of the needs of at risk members of society, and he determined to use his art to advance social change.....More
John Outterbridge
In Search of the Missing
Mule, 1993
Mixed media
86 x 44 1/2 x 14 in.
Collection of the Artist
Image courtesy of California
African American Museum
Photograph © Sammy Davis
John Outterbridge
Déjà Vu-Do,
Ethnic Heritage Group,
ca. 1979-92
Mixed media
67 x 13 1/2 x 9 in
Collection of the Artist
Image courtesy of California
African American Museum
Photograph © Sammy Davis
John Outterbridge - After a tour of U.S. military duty in Europe, John Outterbridge studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago from 1956 to 1959 and arrived in California in 1963, just before the Watts rebellion. His stature as an artist of national standing is paralleled by a distinguished career as the director of two important community arts centers in Watts and Compton, California and as an active member of the Los Angeles arts community. 36 Like Purifoy, Outterbridge appropriated his themes and materials from discarded objects, trash, junk, and objects he found. The theme of discarded materials was used to symbolize the plight of persons living in a damaged environment where they felt as if they were treated as discarded human beings. The use of available materials was also a matter of necessity as well as choice for Purifoy and Outterbridge, as the artists could not afford conventional art materials. Both artists would agree that their work as artists was tempered by a need to satisfy the social demands of their work in community arts. Purifoy once remarked to Outterbridge, "This work we do has more to do with creating tools for social change than it has to do with making art.".........More
Charles Dickson
I Feel the Spirit
Mixed media
(found objects, hardwoods, glass,
sand, oil, copper and bullet casings)
79 in. high
Collection of the artist
Photograph © D.J. Robinson, 2002
Charles Dickson studied at Studio Watts Workshop and also taught at the Compton Art Center and the Watts Towers Arts Center with John Outterbridge. Similar to the previous artists, he has been active in the Watts community arts and professionally in galleries throughout Los Angeles and elsewhere. His work includes public sculpture as well as gallery pieces. Dickson's sculpture draws upon African tribal cultures and the African-American experience. His work also reflects an interest in science and technology. Like Purifoy and Outterbridge, Dickson's sculpture includes assemblage and is constructed of carved wood, as well as discarded materials. However, he also works in bronze, as is evident from a recent commissioned bust of the former United Nations Secretary General Ralph Bunche. The titles of his pieces in the Haggerty exhibition: I Feel the Spirit, and Spirit Dance, (both from 1988), and Bongo Congo: Mobilization of the Spirit, (1989) all reflect their connections to African culture........More
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