Brain Food #472
Addressing history
I never felt it was the role of Brain Food to influence, and I never intended for Brain Food to preach. This still stands true today but, given what is happening in the world, it can still act as a platform to provide some necessary food for thought.
Similarly, art exists not just to please aesthetically, or to express the manifesto behind a new movement, but also to address and challenge history.
What is surprising about black artists is how little we know of them. Ironically, by often documenting their very own histories, they ended up being marginalised, either due to the lack of an ability from a broader audience to connect (though aren’t we all outsiders, in some way), or to a brutal lack of a willingness to accept them.
American and Mexican graphic artist Elizabeth Catlett explored themes that aimed to “present black people in their beauty and dignity for ourselves and others to understand and enjoy.”
This is still necessary, even decades later.
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