Likewise, she valorized the Black Panthers among other prints made on behalf of Black Power. The automatic rifle at the bottom glorifies violent insurrection.
Accordingly, Elizabeth Catlett called herself a "black revolutionary artist" - the title of this exhibition - but her work appears much more tame. Rather than a call to arms, the above is more like a dirge for Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, made two years after they were shot - just as most of her other prints show compassion for the poor and downtrodden. They call for an army of social workers not soldiers. Catlett’s parents were educated educators. Her sculptures were made for middle class homes. Tom Wolfe’s phrase, “radical chic” might better apply to her political activism.
Homage to my Black Sisters, 196
All of the sculptures here, including “ Political Prisoner “ feel aspirational - even the monumental clenched fist giving the black power salute. It expresses personal triumph more than defiance, celebration more than anger. If you climb a ladder up to see the face, it's gentle and sweet.
You may also notice its resemblance to contemporary Modern sculpture, specifically Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth. Catlett took art making quite seriously, gaining familiarity with both contemporary and traditional sculpture, as well as reaching a high level of craft. She selected each piece of wood or stone and carved it to perfection.
These pieces are as decorative as elegant furniture, - masterpieces of craft and design. But are they Art? If we ask Art to connect us to human destiny or higher purpose, her smooth, hard, pleasant surfaces aim no higher than order, confidence and personal satisfaction.
These pieces appear to have been made for a home - not a temple, pubic square, or art museum. They’re comfortable. They’re domestic. The political content is all about personal identity. The college kids of my generation put “Che Lives” posters up in the dormitory. A few years later, fashion called for Angela Davis. Elizabeth Catlett was in the academic vanguard of what would eventually be called “woke” - the ongoing call for racial justice even after the Civil Rights bill of 1964 - a velvet revolution led by an educated elite that has mostly served to motivate a real revolution by the radical right. Which doesn’t make her work any less aesthetically pleasing. Visuality never takes a back seat in Catlett’s work.
And who’s to say that the home is any less important to the human project than the more public areas. She certainly has dignity down cold - especially when compared with the women depicted by DeKooning. She presents that ,satisfaction and authority that only mothers can have. Catlett created many more statues on the theme of motherhood than revolution - but the curators of this show chose to highlight politics.
Her contribution to American politics is problematic , but her contribution to Modern and traditional African figure sculpture deserves much more attention. While postwar abstraction was marginalizing the human figure, she carried its finest, most uplifting qualities into the following century. She stands alone among American sculptors of high reputation.
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