[Blake_Stimson,_Gregory_Sholette]_Collectivism_aft(z-lib
Artists’ Collectives Mostly in New York 195In the ghettoes of U.S. cities, as factories closed and povertyspread, Black Panthers, Young Lords (a Puerto Rican movement), and BrownBerets (Chicanos) formed militant revolutionary political collectives in the1960s and 1970s. Artists of color responded to this broad-based nationalistorganizing by forming print-making and mural collectives to back the movementand cultural centers to carry out cultural education. 6 These initiatives,supported and shaped by state and federal grants, resulted in a network ofcommunity art centers, some of which persist in the regional art worlds ofthe United States like raisins in tapioca pudding.The Chicano 7 and black liberation muralists sought to imagechange—to promote solidarity and positive social values in ghetto environments.They often worked with imagery of an ancient past to build racialpride through a recovery of historical culture. The mythic past of Aztlan, thegreat lost Mexican nation of which the U.S. southwest formed a part, Wguresin the murals of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Antonio, and Tucson. Motifsof the indigenous Taino peoples of Puerto Rico mark the graphic work ofthe Taller Boricua in New York’s Harlem. The work of these groups was oftenvisible on the streets of their neighborhoods, asserting the image at least oflocal control over the urban space of the ghetto. 8 Much of the work was alsowell known to the movements that spawned these groups through the nationwidenetwork of underground newspapers. It was only dimly visible in mainstreammedia, however, and largely unsupported by museums and culturalinstitutions. It was part of the counterculture—albeit a largely segregatedpart—a blanket term applied to the youth culture of the 1960s by social criticTheodore Roszak in a book of the same name. Roszak and others noted thecollective trends among the generation of the late 1960s: the homogenizingpsychic inXuence of shared drug experience and rock ’n’ roll music concerts,the inXuence of social movements based in ideas of equality and freedom,and, Wnally, the sheer press of demographics as the postwar baby boom ofyoung people entered the world of work and culture.Of the activist cultural groups, those comprised of visual artistswere less known in their time than the theater troupes. The San FranciscoMime Troupe and Teatro Campesino in the West and, in the East, the Breadand Puppet Theatre were highly visible through the close support roles theyplayed at large demonstrations. The Bread and Puppet Theatre was startedby sculptor Peter Schumann to support “ban the bomb” demonstrations in1962, and their performances are heavily based on props, particularly giantpuppets. 9 From their home community in Glover, Vermont, the troupe remainsa visible part of the peace and global justice movement and tours thecountry and the world. They help support themselves through the sale of“cheap art,” posters, prints, and paintings that are outgrowths of making props.
196 Alan W. MooreFIGURE 7.2. Ah! The Hopeful Pageantry of Bread and Puppet, a Wlm about the Bread and PuppetDomestic Resurrection Circus shot between 1990 and 1998, by Dee Dee Halleck and Tamar Schumann.Released 2005. Production still by Ron Simon. Courtesy of Dee Dee Halleck.Much of this countercultural collectivity came to bear on theworld of high art in New York with the coalescence of the Art Workers Coalitionin 1969. This group began with an action in the Museum of ModernArt 10 protesting a violation of artists’ rights. The well-organized self-removalof a sculpture by kinetic artist Takis brought agitated museum ofWcials out totalk to the artist and his supporters. This and subsequent events were closelycovered in the New York Times, as well as the “underground” weeklies VillageVoice and the East Village Other, and the group’s meetings swelled.This all followed on the May 1968 “events” in Paris, an insurrectionin which the New York–based Living Theatre played an active role.Sit-ins at the Venice Biennale and takeovers of art schools by their studentsin England led New Yorkers to feel they “ought to be doing something.” 11The AWC was an antihierarchical, democratically open organizationof artists. They drew up an agenda to transform the art world and pressuremuseums to change. The demands of the group were grounded in thecivil rights struggle—equal exhibition opportunities for artists of color and
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Artists’ Collectives Mostly in New York 195
In the ghettoes of U.S. cities, as factories closed and poverty
spread, Black Panthers, Young Lords (a Puerto Rican movement), and Brown
Berets (Chicanos) formed militant revolutionary political collectives in the
1960s and 1970s. Artists of color responded to this broad-based nationalist
organizing by forming print-making and mural collectives to back the movement
and cultural centers to carry out cultural education. 6 These initiatives,
supported and shaped by state and federal grants, resulted in a network of
community art centers, some of which persist in the regional art worlds of
the United States like raisins in tapioca pudding.
The Chicano 7 and black liberation muralists sought to image
change—to promote solidarity and positive social values in ghetto environments.
They often worked with imagery of an ancient past to build racial
pride through a recovery of historical culture. The mythic past of Aztlan, the
great lost Mexican nation of which the U.S. southwest formed a part, Wgures
in the murals of Los Angeles, San Diego, San Antonio, and Tucson. Motifs
of the indigenous Taino peoples of Puerto Rico mark the graphic work of
the Taller Boricua in New York’s Harlem. The work of these groups was often
visible on the streets of their neighborhoods, asserting the image at least of
local control over the urban space of the ghetto. 8 Much of the work was also
well known to the movements that spawned these groups through the nationwide
network of underground newspapers. It was only dimly visible in mainstream
media, however, and largely unsupported by museums and cultural
institutions. It was part of the counterculture—albeit a largely segregated
part—a blanket term applied to the youth culture of the 1960s by social critic
Theodore Roszak in a book of the same name. Roszak and others noted the
collective trends among the generation of the late 1960s: the homogenizing
psychic inXuence of shared drug experience and rock ’n’ roll music concerts,
the inXuence of social movements based in ideas of equality and freedom,
and, Wnally, the sheer press of demographics as the postwar baby boom of
young people entered the world of work and culture.
Of the activist cultural groups, those comprised of visual artists
were less known in their time than the theater troupes. The San Francisco
Mime Troupe and Teatro Campesino in the West and, in the East, the Bread
and Puppet Theatre were highly visible through the close support roles they
played at large demonstrations. The Bread and Puppet Theatre was started
by sculptor Peter Schumann to support “ban the bomb” demonstrations in
1962, and their performances are heavily based on props, particularly giant
puppets. 9 From their home community in Glover, Vermont, the troupe remains
a visible part of the peace and global justice movement and tours the
country and the world. They help support themselves through the sale of
“cheap art,” posters, prints, and paintings that are outgrowths of making props.