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Avins, Jenni. "The NAACP’s “A Man Was Lynched Yesterday” flag has been reprised and hangs in New York City." www.qz.com, 9 July 2016, qz.com/727602/the-naacps-a-man-was-lynched-yesterday-flag-has-been-reprised-and-hangs-in-new-york-city/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

D'Antuono, Michael. "Race & Art Matters: Three Artists’ Reactions to the Death of Trayvon Martin." Interview by Ellen Caldwell. www.newamericanpaintings.com, newamericanpaintings.com/blog/race-art-matters-three-artists%E2%80%99-reactions-death-trayvon-martin. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

Laurent, Olivier. "Go Behind TIME's Baltimore Cover With Aspiring Photographer Devin Allen." www.time.com, 30 Apr. 2015, time.com/3841077/baltimore-protests-riot-freddie-gray-devin-allen/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

Scott, Dread. "On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide." www.dreadscott.net, www.dreadscott.net/works/impossibility-of-freedom/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

Segal, Corinne. "This flag once protested lynching. Now it’s an artist’s response to police violence." www.pbs.org, 10 July 2016, www.pbs.org/newshour/art/this-flag-once-protested-lynching-now-its-an-artists-response-to-police-violence/. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

White, Erin. "FEATURE: VISUAL ARTIST PATRICK CAMPBELL'S POWERFUL PAINTING HEADS TO THE SMITHSONIAN." www.afropunk.com, 31 Dec. 2015, www.afropunk.com/profiles/blogs/patrick-campbell-powerful-paintings?xg_source=activity. Accessed 25 Apr. 2017.

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D’Antuono’s work was inspired by the Travon martin case and more specifically how George Zimmerman was not indicted for the murder of an unarmed teenager. The powerful references to the KKK are shown here with the police man wearing a white hood pointing a gun at a young child. The young black male in the picture has his hand out offering skittles and this is a reference to Travon martin who was also unarmed, carrying skittles when he was killed. This related to a broader historical context where the American flag in the background is being ripped up and underneath is the confederate flag. D’Antuono’s intentions of his work is not to give answers to the problem of modern day police brutality but, to help start the national conversation (D’Antuono). The KKK has done so much damage and have lynched and murdered so many African Americans. The fact that D’Antuono has compared this police officer in his work to one of those members really makes a statement of how serious this police brutality really is.

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On the cover of Time Magazine is Devin Allen’s photo of a young black man being chased in Baltimore. Protestors gathered here because of Freddy Grays death (Laurent). Gray died when being transported after being arrested when he went into a coma. There was a witnesses who said the police used unnecessary force. This lead them to believe this was the cause of the spinal injury that ultimately to his death. Furthermore, TIME magazine struck a powerful historical reference by crossing out “America 1968” but 1968 and replacing it with 2015. This is a direct relation to the civil rights movement and how not much has changed. The large force of the police to the one black male running away in the frame symbolically shows the power of the police force over civilians.  It makes it seem as if this man committed a crime but in reality he is just protesting. This picture uses a shot taken in real life to spread awareness on the fact that the police force handles these protests the same way today as they did in 1968.

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In Campbell’s work he responds to the announcement that the man who choked out Eric Garner would not be indicted. He relates this incident to a larger history of slavery and lynching where he compares Garders tragic death as “A new age of Slavery”. Indicated in work of water color he shows the American flag. But if you look closer you will find the stripes are dripping down in red where there are figures being lynched. Another intriguing part of Campbell’s work is in the part of the flag that has the stars. Depicted here is a figure with a gun shooting a man with his back turned. Both of these events represent the death of Walter Scott and how he was shot in the back and killed (White). The American flag shows its power through watercolor to represent freedom and liberty. On the contrary, Campbell expresses his work with bodies being lynched on the flag to express the opposite of liberty. It references a horrible past of American history with the people being lynched and also the figure being shot to represent police brutality next to the 50 stars.

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In Scotts work “A man was Lynched by Police Yesterday” shows a very strong historical context yet the work is directed towards a modern event. The work this resembles today is the flag that was hung by the NAACP and on it the words read “A man was lynched Yesterday”. During the time period when this flag was hung by the NAACP, 1920-1938, Lynch mobs were extremely prevalent (Segal). There was a constant fear of being lynched at this time and these mobs wouldn’t face any repercussion. Scott compares police to the lynch mobs and believes them to be modern day versions of them (Segal). This is because police have killed black civilians when they weren’t committing any serious crimes. They have created a fear for black citizens even if they are pulled over for a simple traffic violation. Walter Scott is a perfect example of this, where he got pulled over for a traffic violation then was later shot eight times in the back. These officers are also doing this without any repercussion legally just as the lynch mobs got away with these murders with no backlash.

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On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide

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On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide

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In Dread Scotts performance he references a specific event during the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. This was where non-violent protestors gathered in Birmingham and were struck by the governments high pressured fire hoses when they tried to fight against legalized discrimination and segregation (Scott). This performance showed the struggle Scott faced when he attempted to walk forward but was continuously knocked down from the power of the hose. Although this references the protests in Birmingham and the historical struggle for freedom it also has a modern day symbolic meaning. This is referring to the present day struggle of oppressive government authorities and racism (Scott). A more specific example that can be related to this work is the police murder of Michael brown in Ferguson, Mo. Brown was shot and killed while walking back home. The officer was not indicted and this set off a series of protests. People were outraged because witnesses had said that brown put his hands up to surrender but was killed anyway. Like Brown, the protestors in 1963 were non violent in Birmingham yet still harmed by authorities. Scott symbolically puts his hands up in the performance to show this.

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During the process of putting my exhibition together I wanted to focus on art dealing with police brutality. This topic has been a large part of American History and more recently there has been many deaths that have been nationally recognized and debated on. I wanted to use pieces that reflect the history of racism and police brutality in America to spread awareness to how this history still continues as we speak. There have been numerous recent cases of police brutality where civilians were killed as the end result. Some of the works that I chose were in response to some of these events where a police officer had killed a civilian. Although there are various mediums used they all reference recent events that have happened they also relate it to historical events. They show how some of these events can be considered modern day slavery and draw parallels to actions during the civil rights movement. By comparing modern day events to slavery and police brutality used during the civil rights movement, it challenges us to think about how there still needs to be change in our society. This art is extremely powerful and sometimes hard to look at because of its association with the brutally unfortunate history of our country. Seeing these chilling pieces that compare lynching to modern day events such as Eric Garner’s death is one example. Given this, it challenges people to think through more critically about these modern issues and the serious weight it holds when it is compared to slavery and the civil rights movement. The different pieces I have used for my exhibition have extreme variety when it comes to the medium being used. There are many different ways to show how police brutality and racism are still a enormous problem today. Among these mediums used in my exhibition are public performances, flag hung in public spaces, magazine covers, oil on canvas, and a water color. Each artist has a different way of expressing the same issue and their own way of influencing all that view their art in order to create change.

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Michael D'Antuono
Oil on Canvas "30 x 40"

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A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday, 2015

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A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday, 2015

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Dread Scott
Photograph

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Photograph
This is for reference to Dread Scott's 2015
*NAACP

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Patrick Campbell
Watercolor

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Devin Allen
Photograph

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On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide, 2014

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On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide, 2014

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Dread Scott
Performance