Communities culture can tell a story with history

Artworks

• TEMPLATE (2026) — What I want to talk about is how painting shows culture/ community by talking about their past history and demonstrating their culture onto their paitnigns.The African American community as we all know has had a harsh past and harsh history, many painters use painting as a way to protest, tell a story, or show their view of their community. There are paintings that also use things as a symbol like one of the paintings that I will be using has the American flag using it as a symbol. Some of the paintings well tell a story that has happened in the past, and some are going to show you what a certain culture is really like. African American artists do a great job of demonstrating culture and supporting their communities by telling stories. A quote that goes very well with my topic is “ Culture is the sum total of all the ways we try to make sense of the world” by James Baldwin. He was an American novelist who liked to write about confronting racial, and class inequality in the 20th century. What he means by that quote is that he viewed culture as creating something collectively through lived experiences. Communities form culture by being able to struggle,share stories, and values that helped people understand themselves. Using this quote goes very well with the paintings that are in the gallery, the artist shows their community's struggles in the past and also proceeds to show their culture of their community. I'm starting off with Jacob Lawrence because it shows the context of black community history. It's showing the movement of African Americans from starting in the south then moving to the northern cities and the challenges they had to face. This goes well with my topic because it shows the history of the Black community, and how their lives were changing. Then I'm gonna do David Hammons “ America the Beautiful” and “ Boy with flag”, they both follow to highlight the political and social struggles during a big thing during our history, the Civil War. It emphasizes the black identity, and questions of equality, it shows how unfair it was toward the black community by using symbols in their painting. Then I'm going to do Ernie Barnes “ The sugar shack”, which is the next one to celebrate Black culture,music, community joy, and dance. This shows how cultural expression unites people. This painting is representing culture by showing people enjoying themselves and dancing. For the last one I'm doing Kerry James Marshall “Many Mansions”, this painting concludes the sequence to representing Black life but contemporary. It shows everyday community space and is bringing a story into the present. It shows how the community was living their lives and showed their culture by showing a positive stereotype By being able to present them in this order viewers can see the journey that the black community has been through. From historical migration and struggles, to civil right activism, to celebrating culture, and to modern life illustrating continuity, and pride in the Black communities.
• Jacob lawrence, the migration series, pane.1, 1940, temperate on hardboard (2026) — This painting also goes very well with my topic, what this painting is showing is the great migration when a lot of African Americans were moving into the northern cities . During the world war 1 factories in the northern area needed employees which was creating job opportunities for African Americans who wanted to leave the south cause of the rasicm, segregation, and limited opportunities. On the canvas it shows the experiences, all the people symbolized that African American people worked during that time. Despite the great migration some others reshaped in the cities there was a new culture, different music was becoming a thing, and different community life, this change opened new doors. By people leaving and finding new opportunities it shows the strength and hope of African American culture. The bold colors that Lawrence uses reflect on african american artistic innovation connecting the visual style with cultural identity. The painting captures daily life and the social changes of African American people showing their culture, struggles, and creativity.
• David Hammons, America the Beautiful, 1968, body print with silk screen (Oakland Museum of Art) (2026) — As you can see when knowing all the details of how the person and the flag are the focal point you can see what they are trying to say and trying to show. In a sense you can see that they were trying to protest and really question if the United States really has equality for everyone, using an actual body makes it feel really active. The black body represents the identity and shared experiences that the Black community have gone through. The American flag is a symbol is representing dominant national culture and it creates a contrast between ideal and reality. This shows the layers is suggesting inequality, struggle, and complexity in how Black communities were experiencing in america.
• David Hammons, Boy With Flag, 1968, body print with silk screen, 40 1/4 x 30 1/4″ (2026) — This was made in 1968, made during contemporary America, where their discussions of race, citizenship, and equality this work reflects on debates about what it really meant to be American This art work really highlights how african america people only wanted equality and it shows by showing emphasis making the flag and the person (african american) the focal point. It's a creative way to show how difficult it was when there was no equality for african american by show balance. It represents real life experiences of people that are in the Black community. The American flag symbolizes the large national culture, but when placing a boy it shows the connection between American identity and Black identity. By placing the flag in the hands of a african american person what Hammons highlights how identity and nationalism are connected and sometimes can be conflicted
• Ernie Barnes, The sugar shack, 1976, oil on canvas (2026) — This painting was created in 1976 by Ernie Barnes, what the artist likes to have in their painting is usually creating painting scenes from the African Americans community, for example he would use music, church , and sports to show the community. What the dancing figures that creating movement in the painting its showing and representing the music and dance transition that are important in the Black community, the crowded room as you can see its showing people coming together to celebrate and its symbolizing joy of the community. The painting was inspired by the social gathering in Black communities during the 20th century. This painting celebrates a lot of things in the Black community and is sharing culture, the things they are celebrating are joy, music , and cultural expressions within the Black community. This symbolized the culture that the Black community really has.