Banner brings Black graphic arts history into modern
light
In February, as part of continuing Black History Month
coverage, correspondent Debra R. Messick published an extensive interview with Pierre
Bowens Bowens, a professor of graphic design at
George Mason University. Bowens, a Dorchester County native, helped create the
online course, “Black Design in America: African Americans and the African
Diaspora in Graphic Design.” His exhibition, “The Sin of Omission,” was
featured at Dorchester Center for the Arts.
But, as Messick wrote, one doesn’t have to visit a museum
to view what are essentially everyday masterpieces created by African
Americans: They're everywhere – posters, album covers, ads, logos, book
illustrations, even the designs behind objects known and loved, like childhood
favorite, the View-Master.
While dedicated to his craft, Bowens became painfully aware
just how few design artists of color, like himself, seemed to be represented
professionally at conferences and meetings. To understand this sense of
isolation, Bowens began a personal quest to collect historic graphic design
artifacts. And what he found was reassuring, yet disturbing.
Messick was able to communicate how numerous African
Americans had been actively engaged in design arts, yet there was no mention of
them in graphic design textbooks – what Bowens calls “the historic canon,"
leaving no way for future artists to understand that they're truly not alone.
The story generated considerable positive reaction. It was
an occasion in which the Dorchester Banner was able to
convey history, while also shedding light on current-day problems.
