Now Dig This!
Work From L.A.’s Groundbreaking 1960s and 1970s African-American Art Scene
Betye Saar. Black Girl’s Window, 1969. Assemblage in window. 35 ¾ x 18 x 1 ½ in. (90.8 x 45.7 x 3.8 cm). Collection of the artist; Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York.
David Hammons. America the Beautiful, 1968. Lithograph and body print. 39 x 29 1⁄2 in. (99.1 x 74.9 cm). Oakland Museum, Oakland Museum Founders Fund.
Dale Brockman Davis. Swept, 1970. Mixed media. 30 x 40 x 6 in. (76.2 x 101.6 x 15.2 cm). Blocker Collection c/o Rick Blocker.
David Hammons. Bag Lady in Flight, c. 1970. Shopping bags, grease, and hair. 42 1/2 x 116 1/2 x 3 1/2 in. (108 x 295.9 x 8.9 cm). Collection of Eileen Harris Norton, Santa Monica, California.
John Outterbridge. No Time for Jivin’, from the Containment Series, 1969. Mixed media. 56 x 60 in. (142.2 x 152.4 cm). Mills College Art Museum Collection. Purchased with funds from the Susan L Mills Fund.
Noah Purifoy. Untitled (Assemblage), 1967. Mixed media. 66 x 39 x 8 in. (167.6 x 99.1 x 20.3 cm). Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. Museum Purchase, the William A. Clark Fund and Gift of Dr. Samella Lewis. 1993.3. © Courtesy the Noah Purifoy Foundation.
Suzanne Jackson. Apparitional Visitations, 1973. Acrylic wash on canvas. 54 x 72 in. (137.2 x 182.9 cm). Collection of Vaughn C. Payne Jr., M.D.
Charles White. Love Letter #1, 1971. Lithograph with documents. 22 3/16 x 30 in. (56.4 x 76.2 cm). Private Collection.
John Riddle. Ghetto Merchant, 1966. Mixed media. 41 x 18 1⁄4 in. (104.1 x 46.4 cm). Courtesy of Claude and Ann Booker, Los Angeles.
Inspired by the civil rights and black power movements, drawn to L.A. by economic opportunity, and nourished by a thriving Southern California arts scene, African-American artists formed a historic cultural community in the city in the 1960s and 1970s. They would influence not just one another but also the course of 20th century art in the region and the nation. As the exhibition Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles 1960-1980 goes into its final weekend at the Hammer Museum, we present a selection of work–sculpture, painting, mixed-media projects–from a group of pioneering artists including Betye Saar, John Outterbridge, and David Hammons. Get a taste here, then catch Now Dig This!–which the Los Angeles Times named one of the 10 best museum shows of the year–while you still can.
Now Dig This! Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980. Installation view at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. October 2, 2011-January 8, 2012. Photography by Robert Wedemeyer.
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