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Nelson Stevens (American, 1938–2022). Uhuru, 1971. Screenprint on paper, Sheet: 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 2012.80.41. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2012.80.41_PS6.jpg)
Nelson Stevens (American, 1938–2022). Uhuru, 1971. Screenprint on paper, Sheet: 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 2012.80.41. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.2012.80.41.jpg)
Uhuru
Contemporary Art
With this work, the Brooklyn Museum debuts the recent acquisition of a significant collection of artworks from the Black Arts Movement, considered the cultural wing of the Black Power Movement in the late 1960s and 1970s.
Nelson Stevens was a member of the Chicago-based collective AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). AfriCOBRA used what they called “coolade colors” to create empowering images of African Americans—which they deemed “Superreal images for Superreal people.” Here a woman with an afro (then a highly political hairstyle) casts her gaze upward, as if envisioning a day when African Americans would be truly free. The word uhuru means “freedom” in Swahili, and the choice of language signaled the group’s Afrocentric politics.
Nelson Stevens was a member of the Chicago-based collective AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). AfriCOBRA used what they called “coolade colors” to create empowering images of African Americans—which they deemed “Superreal images for Superreal people.” Here a woman with an afro (then a highly political hairstyle) casts her gaze upward, as if envisioning a day when African Americans would be truly free. The word uhuru means “freedom” in Swahili, and the choice of language signaled the group’s Afrocentric politics.
PUBLISHER
AfriCOBRA
MEDIUM
Screenprint on paper
DATES
1971
DIMENSIONS
Sheet: 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm) (show scale)
SIGNATURE
Unsigned as intended
COLLECTIONS
Contemporary Art
ACCESSION NUMBER
2012.80.41
CREDIT LINE
Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund
MUSEUM LOCATION
This item is not on view
CAPTION
Nelson Stevens (American, 1938–2022). Uhuru, 1971. Screenprint on paper, Sheet: 40 x 30 in. (101.6 x 76.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of R.M. Atwater, Anna Wolfrom Dove, Alice Fiebiger, Joseph Fiebiger, Belle Campbell Harriss, and Emma L. Hyde, by exchange, Designated Purchase Fund, Mary Smith Dorward Fund, Dick S. Ramsay Fund, and Carll H. de Silver Fund, 2012.80.41. © artist or artist's estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 2012.80.41_PS6.jpg)
IMAGE
overall, 2012.80.41_PS6.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2013
"CUR" at the beginning of an image file name means that the image was created by a curatorial staff member. These study images may be digital point-and-shoot photographs, when we don\'t yet have high-quality studio photography, or they may be scans of older negatives, slides, or photographic prints, providing historical documentation of the object.
RIGHTS STATEMENT
© artist or artist's estate
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