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*Information provided by AIGA*
VISUAL ARTIST AND BLACK PANTHER ICON, EMORY DOUGLAS, SPEAKS ABOUT HIS ART AND HIS LEGACY.
AIGA Wisconsin and UWM welcome Emory Douglas, 2015 AIGA Medalist, to the UWM Peck School of the Arts Artists Now! series in a rare opportunity to see and hear from an artist — whose work from over fifty years ago remains relevant and powerful today.
"Since the birth of modernism, revolutionary movements have been accompanied by equally radical shifts in art and design, from the Russian Revolution’s Constructivism, to the Situationism associated with the incendiary events of Paris 1968, and even Shepard Fairey’s iconic Obama “Hope” poster." - Matt Stromburg, Hyperallergic
The Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s was no exception. Over fifty years ago, aware of the powerful connection between radical politics and visual culture, the Black Panther Party embraced the bold aesthetic style of artist Emory Douglas, who became not only the Party’s Minister of Culture, but the Art Director and Designer of the Black Panther’s posters, pamphlets, and its popular newspaper.
Douglas’s iconic illustrations captured the breadth of the African American experience and the fight for civil rights with empathy and respect. By giving a voice to those long excluded from mainstream America, Douglas became known by artist and writer Colette Gaiter as the “The Norman Rockwell of the Ghetto, concentrating on the poor and oppressed.'"
"Emory Douglas: The Art of Cause" will be held in the Arts Center Lecture Hall on the UWM campus and is FREE to the public. Doors open at 6:30pm, event starts at 7:30pm. Seats are limited, reserve yours today!
Image Credits (left to right): Poster from The Black Panther, August 21, 1971, offset lithograph, Collection of Alden and Mary Kimbrough, Los Angeles, © Emory Douglas; Revolution in our Lifetime, Emory Douglas, offset lithograph, Black Panther Newspaper, 1969; Jos Wheeler, Auckland, New Zealand.
Eventbrite: https://emory-douglas.eventbrite.com
About Emory Douglas: Emory Douglas created the visual identity for the Black Panther Party and his iconic images came to symbolise the struggles of the movement. As the Revolutionary Artist and Minister of Culture for the Black Panther Party from 1967 until the 1980s, Douglas’s work, described as ‘Militant Chic’, featured in most issues of the newspaper The Black Panther. His work was characterized by strong graphic images of young African Americans men, women and children. He used the newspaper’s popularity to spur people to action, portraying the poor with empathy and as being unapologetic and ready to struggle for basic human rights. Douglas continues to create art with social and political concerns art that transends borders.
