AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People

Author: Jeffreen Hayes (Editor), Chana Sheldon (Foreword), Leslie Guy (Contributor)
Publisher: Gregory R. Miller, Museum of Contemporary Art, North Miami
Year: 2021
Pages: 187
ISBN: 978-1941366301

AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) was founded on the South Side of Chicago in 1968 by a collective of young Black artists, whose interest in Transnational Black Aesthetics led them to create one of the most distinctive visual voices in 20th-century American art. The key characteristics of what we now consider the classic AFRICOBRA look -- vibrant, 'cool-ade' colors, bold text, shine and positive images of Black people -- were essential to everyday life in the community from which this movement emerged. It is a movement with roots in the soil, streets, classrooms, studios and living rooms of the South Side of Chicago, yet its influence has extended around the world. This survey represents the first major appraisal of AFRICOBRA's work in Europe and builds on the exhibition AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People, which premiered at MOCA North Miami during Art Basel Miami 2018.