Out of Struggle Came Power

Presenting the work of three remarkable artists

From the African American experience

Bill Traylor, Joseph Yoakum, Frank Jones

Exhibition Dates:  September 10 – October 23, 2010

Opening Reception:  Friday, September 10, 5:30 – 8:00 P.M.

Bill Traylor Untitled blue construction w. red bird  Poster paint on found cardboard, 11.5 x 8 inches c. 1939-40	Joseph Yoakum  Mt. Hann 2,800 Ft. in King Leopold Range Near Derby in Western Australia. Pencil, pen and colored pencil on paper  24 x 18 inches May 11, 1966	Frank Jones Untitled “Devil House” Colored pencil on paper, 34 x 39 inches.  c. 1965

Carl Hammer Gallery is pleased to open its 2010 – 2011 gallery season with an exhibition of works by world renowned, self-taught artists Bill Traylor, Joseph Yoakum and Frank Jones.  The story of all three men’s lives is both an iconic product of and a significant contributor to the legacy of the African American experience in art and in  American social dynamics. Out of Struggle Came Power attempts to provide a window of understanding into the powerful imagery each artist used to represent his unique life and experiences which came to surface in their incredible discovery of themselves as artists.  While it is indeed true that each of these men lived subserviently, quietly and almost anonymously early on, late in each of their respective lives, they would create powerful visual statements about themselves and their surrounding worlds which displayed a creative genius unsurpassed by contemporary artists who were the beneficiaries of more conventional art instruction, art careers and exhibition venues. 

Without question, each of these men’s lives was significantly touched by the powerful force of institutional racism practiced and accepted nation-wide.  Each of these men lived entire lifetimes subjected to the struggle of working in an America which responded to Black men and women with indifference, disdain and, quite often, violence.  Yet, remarkably, these three individuals, each late in their lives, transformed their difficult life experiences into amazing individual visual statements of beauty, invention and a profound narrative remembrance.