Joyce Gordon Gallery presents the work of Emory Douglas, Artist for the People

Emory Douglas:
Artist for the People
May 7 – June 28, 2014

Joyce Gordon Gallery
406 14th St., Oakland
510-465 8928

Opening Reception: First Friday, June 6th 6-9p Instrumental Music by Krista Freelove of Freelove Music School in Oakland Emory Douglas (featured artist), Darryl Thompson (Muralist – Oakland Ink), Jose Garcia (Muralist – Eastside Arts Alliance), Greg Morozumi (Guest Curator – East Side Arts Alliance), Eric Murphy (Gallery Curator, Joyce Gordon Gallery).

 Selections by Joyce Gordon (Gallery Director) Co – Sponsored by Eastside Arts Alliance Joyce Gordon Gallery --

presents a solo retrospective of the provocatively political graphics of EMORY DOUGLAS, the designated Revolutionary Artist and former Minister of Culture of the Black Panther Party.

In the aftermath of the assassination of Malcolm X in 1965, unabated violence against Civil Rights protestors and Black civilians exhausted the will of passive resistance and spurred a militant call for Black Power. Revolutionary groups like the Black Panther Party emerged, heeding Malcolm’s call for self-respect, self- determination, and self-defense, which resonated in Black communities across the nation.

A condensed exhibition of Emory’s prolific artwork, originally designed for The Black Panther Newspaper and for posters and flyers to disseminate political propaganda was reflective of the insurrectionary atmosphere of the times, with urban rebellions igniting from city to city and strikes from campus to campus. 

Emory’s graphics were militantly aggressive and visually bold and dynamic. The cartoon drawings famously depicted confrontations with police (portrayed as ‘pigs’); but others announced the breadth of Black Panther Survival Programs, serving grassroots communities’ basic needs.Today, Emory’s work is currently celebrated in prominent museums in the U.S., presented as graphic nostalgia of the bygone 60s; But for Emory, his message of self-determination still rings true… and he uses his rediscovered celebrity to expound those germinal political ideas with invitations to exhibit and lecture around the world. Viewed here in Oakland, the birthplace and focal point of the Black Panthers, Emory’s drawings evoke a very personal and profound memory.