MS01.01.03.B01.F13.002

2

much of the work that black artists have produced during the past decade.
More recently, regional American styles such as the new realism, the
colorist tradition in art, the conceptual and pop movements are
dominant trends that are to be seen among black artists [deleted: who work]
working today.
Of equal importance is the ever-present trend of contemporary Afro-
American art to be literal in the interpretation of themes depicting current
black life-styles.
Artists who work in this literal and rather traditional manner often
use their art as a means of focusing attention on their social plight
[deleted: life and indeed the life of] and the plight of black masses as a
whole, thereby showing the injustices that [deleted: accompany] are
associated with being born black in America.

Traditionally, the black artist has been observed from a
distance by critics and historians alike. He has been called upon by the
majority culture to perform in the arena of European-centered art and
has been conditioned to believe that he
at best is a queer participant in an American sub-culture.

Some students of American culture suggest that Afro-American art
exists in order to appease
the mistakes of white historians and critics who have been systematically
responsible for the emissions of the accomplishments of artists of color
from their writings. A more positive meaning of Afro-American art
centers around the notion that the Black Experience provides artists
of all media with a particular
insight into the nature of their own life-styles, thereby giving each artist
something special to say about being a Black American. The history of
slavery in America, the civil rights struggle of the 50s and the 60s along
with the socio-political structure that often excludes Black Americans
from the American mainstream are vital experiences upon which many
black artists have turned [deleted: to] for content. However, in order to
be as
comprehesive as possible in [deleted: my] an objective coverage of the
subject, this Writer shall hereafter
refer to Afro-American art as being "all accepted forms of visual
expression that are practices by persons of African ancestry who live
in America."^1