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Black Art- An International Quarterly, Vol 2., No. 3, Spring 1978

TOWARDS AN AESTHETIC TOUGHNESS IN AFRO-AMERICAN ART
Floyd Coleman

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Writing in the catalog for the exhibition Two Centuries on Black American Art, David Driskell makes a statement that is pertinent to any discussion of the art of Afro-Americans. "The black community must," writes Driskell, "come to realize that art can have intrinsic value, and act accordingly. Otherwise, it will limit its artists to reproducing when they could find and reveal; dealing with the anecdotal when they could discover and express truths that go beyond temporal values"* [emphasis supplied].

Professor Driskell is concerned with the ever-present dichotomy of artistic creation which involves, on the one hand, the artistic statement that appeals to the immediate, and on the other hand, the expression that is more aligned with a collective patterned existence, impacted and defined by long held cultural values. Driskell is asserting that Black art must be more than a mere agglutination of temporal images. It must be an art that has an "aesthetic toughness" [[cross symbol]] one that defines and reveals--a characteristic not foreign to the art of traditional Africa.

In Africa the art was so intimately connected with cultural and life patterns; works were created for all aspects of one's existence: birth, childhood, puberty, levels of social and political advancement, and death. While there is no question as to the social relevancy of art produced under such circumstances, the Afro-American would be mistaken to copy literally what was found in traditional Africa--though the existence of an art that was not separated from life should be instructive. For in traditional Africa, art dealt directly with the human condition, and the human condition has not changed. Only the view of it has been modified. A basic, collective ground line persists that can inform the visual statements of Afro-American artists, an archetypal persistence that can make for more psychologically meaningful interpretations of the experience of Black folks.

Agreement with Professor Driskell on the need for the Black community to recognize the intrinsic value of art and his admonition against the tendency to burden the Black artist with extra-aesthetic concerns--ideological and political matters--does not mean that art cannot serve other purposes without compromising its aesthetic value. For a work of art possesses many levels of meaning which become clear one observes that the same art object causes many different responses on the part of percipients. Nevertheless, there is legitimate concern for what may be perceived as an over-emphasis on the ideology or propaganda; frequently underlying this objection, however, is the belief that the artistic is completely separate from the cognitive realm. If Rudolf Arnheim is correct, visual data provide the basis for cognition; hence, information received from visual perception is the stuff from which all thoughts are formed. [[symbol]] Then, contrary to earlier beliefs, the visual and cognitive processes are inextricably linked.

The process of making art also involves numerous decisions, ones that do not draw upon the emotional realm alone. For one cannot escape the idea of meaning in works of art> man-made marks, shapes and forms are inherently meaningful. Although the cognitive element is inescapable, the art object is not exclusively an intellectual phenomenon. By virtue of the fact of it that are not directed specifically to the intellect, but to the spiritual or emotional realm. And while the art object is inevitably meaningful, it is implicitly rather than explicitly so.

But perhaps the larger and more far reaching question that Professor Driskell's statement raises is: To what extent should the criticism of Black art be prescriptive? And is it beneficial or detrimental to the development of a viable Black art, an art that defines and reveals, rather than an expression that is merely anecdotal?