Colored Pictures: Race and Visual Representation - Hardcover

Harris, Michael D.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807827606 ISBN 13: 9780807827604

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2003

Synopsis

In this book, artist and art historian Michael Harris investigates the role of visual representation in the construction of black identities, both real and imagined, in the United States. He focuses particularly on how African American artists have responded to - and even used - stereotypical images in their own works. Harris shows how, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, racial stereotypes became the dominant mode through which African Americans were represented. These characterizations of blacks formed a substantial part of the foundation of white identity and social power. They also, Harris argues, seeped into African Americans' self-images and undermined their self-esteem. Harris traces black artists' responses to racist imagery across two centuries, from early works by Henry O. Tanner and Archibald J. Motley Jr., in which African Americans are depicted with dignity, to contemporary works by Kara Walker and Michael Ray Charles, in which derogatory images are recycled to controversial effect. The work of these and other artists - such as John Biggers, Jeff Donaldson, Betye Saar, Juan Logan, and Camille Billops - reflects a wide range of perspectives, Examined together, they offer compelling insight into the profound psychological impact of visual stereotypes on the African American community.

About this title

About the Author

Michael D. Harris is associate professor of African and African American art history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. An artist and curator, he is a longtime member of the Chicago-based artists' collective AfriCobra.

From the Inside Flap

Artist and art historian Michael Harris examines the racial stereotypes prevalent in 19th- and 20th-century American art. He argues that these images substantially reinforced social power and undermined the self-esteem of African Americans. He traces black artists' responses to racist imagery across two centuries and a wide range of perspectives and offers compelling insights into the profound psychological impact of visual stereotypes on the African American community.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807827606
• ISBN 13: 9780807827604
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304