The most haunting quality of “Target,” a bronze sculpture by Elizabeth Catlett, may be its timelessness. The piece — in which the cross hairs of a rifle sight frame the head of an African-American man mounted on a block of wood — could date to the Civil War era, when rifle scopes entered into widespread use, or to the present day, when research shows that young Black men are far more likely to be killed by police than other Americans. Catlett, in fact, conceived the work in 1970 in response to the fatal shooting of two Black Panthers — Fred Hampton and Mark Clark — by Chicago police officers. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1915, the granddaughter of freed slaves, Catlett unflinchingly depicted the violent reality of racial injustice throughout her career, but she also portrayed civil rights leaders — Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Angela Davis and Malcolm X among them — as well as the courage and resilience of everyday African-Americans, particularly women. “I have always wanted my art to service my people — to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential,” she once said. “We have to create an art for liberation and for life.” Catlett became a Mexican citizen in 1962, but she continued to address the experience of Black people in the United States until her death in 2012. Catlett’s “Target” and the 1968 piece “Black Unity,” a raised fist carved in mahogany, are two of the most iconic and lasting artworks in the continuing movement for civil rights. — Z.L.
Image and source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/15/t-magazine/most-influential-protest-art.htm
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