Wonder Women Wednesday #2

   

Sharecropper, 1952

printed 1970

Elizabeth Catlett (1915- 2012) - one of my very favorite artists!  She wanted to be an artist at a time when there were not many female African American artists as role models.  She was a sculptor and printmaker concerned with the civil rights struggle and the plight of African American and Mexican women.  Her work reflects her concern for gender, racial and social equality.

Many of her works feature strong women.  The first Catlett print I saw as a young art student was Sharecropper at the Art Institute of Chicago.  The weathered woman is strong like so many older African American women I encountered as a young girl.

Sharecropper was printed at the Taller de Grafica Popular (People's Graphic Arts Workshop) a studio using art to promote social change.  This spirit of activism inspired her to create art that celebrated the hard work of African American women such as Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth.  She believed southern women continued to keep their dignity in the face of extreme discrimination and adversity.

For more info on Elizabeth Catlett check out  http://www.printeresting.org/2012/04/23/elizabeth-catlett-1915-2012/  and http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/04/local/la-me-elizabeth-catlett-20120404