Angela Davis and Tschabalala Self in Afterall Publication

Afterall has released a new publication pairing a 1980s essay by scholar and activist Angela Davis with a contemporary response from artist Tschabalala Self. In 'Art on the Frontline: Mandate for a People's Culture', Davis's text asks how to collectively acknowledge and communicate Afro-American popular cultural legacy to masses denied access to arts spaces. She argues for understanding and reclaiming cultural forms born of Black struggle as part of a political offensive against racial oppression under capitalism. Responding thirty-five years later, Self created a series of vibrant works on paper depicting three individual subjects that collectively suggest a shared social consciousness through ebbs and flows of joy and disdain. The paperback is available for purchase via Koenig.