The flag delivers a sense of pride and confirms the presence of African-Americans in the United States and that being black and American are one and the same thing. It also sends a message about the misinterpretation and double standards and deception prevalent in being black in America. The American Flag tries to seek silent answers to the questionable maltreatment of African-Americans in the United States. The design of the flag also drew some inspirations from the Watts riots 7 that took place in the region of Watts in Los Angeles between August 11 and 16, 1965. He merged two flags to evoke a conversation about the feeble history behind the flag of the United States and the mixed messages it conveys about their history. Hammons was inspired by two contrasting symbols: the U.S flag and the Pan-African flag adopted by the group Universal Negro Improvement Association 6 (UNIA) by Marcus Garvey and African Communities League in 1920. David Hammons – African-American Flag, 1990, dyed cotton, 149.86 x 234.315 cm (59 x 92 1/4 in.) Inspiration Henry Louis Gates 5 defined the term signifyin as the quintessential version of black creativity. Hammons’s artful work conveys the black linguistic act of signifyin 4.
He was once sensationally quoted saying 3: Hammons has a unique style of working, which doesn’t include any mediums, academic theory, or any formal. During this event, seven artists were selected, among them David Hammons, but no African-American women were featured in the exhibition.įor so long, the flag has been a recurring element in the artist’s work, and it figures in Hammons’ earlier body print works. It was used in the exhibition to create awareness of the lack of coverage of African-American artists in Europe. The flag contains red, black, and green colors. African-American FlagĪfrican-American Flag is one of the artist’s best-known works, created in 1990 for the Black USA exhibition at Amsterdam’s Museum Overholland, running from April 7 to July 29, 1990. His fickle relationship with the art world establishment and the inherent political commentary in his work reflects the complications of the time we live in, resulting in his unique way of visualizing the different truths we each experience.Įngelen’s words came after it was announced that The African-American Flag would be offered in the Evening Sale of 20th Century & Contemporary Art on Wednesday, May 16, 2019. There is, however, a unifying thread in his oeuvre, with his works consistently being insightful, poignant, visually striking and politically engaged. Jean-Paul Engelen, Worldwide Co-Head of 20th Century and Contemporary Art at Phillips stated 2 this about the artist:ĭavid Hammons is among the most important and fascinating artists of our time, defined by his political stance and refusal to confine himself to a particular aesthetic or medium.
He also lived in Los Angeles for a decade at the beginning of his artistic career. Hammons spent the majority of his life in New York. He doesn’t show up at events, and it is not that he has a plethora of them. He does things on his own volition and has made a trademark of elusiveness sometimes. 2.3 Where is the flag now? Who is David Hammons?ĭavid Hammons 1 is an American artist born on July 24, 1943, in Springfield, Illinois, United States.