RECLAMATIONS

During the Harlem Renaissance, the philosopher and writer Alain Locke observed that once African-American artists had developed an awareness of African art, they would turn to it as a source of inspiration. He was to be proven right. Travel, military service, rising political consciousness, and an increased flow of information all contributed to the cultural awareness of young African-American artists and encouraged them to reclaim their African heritage. After World War II, artists began to fix their gaze on the "Motherland," as Africa came to be called.

For the artist, the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s demanded action, but they sought to use their art as more than mere placards extolling social change. Art became a visual testimony to the growing consciousness of a people who were no longer afraid to make connections with their past. Reaching through the veil of slavery, which had covered the past, artists boldly reclaimed their legacy and created images of an African heritage that denied the stereotypes of mass advertising