Lois Mailou Jones is a talented African-American artist who has made a huge impact on the lives of many African-American artists, and art history. Jones was born in Boston, Massachusetts in the year of 1905, and died in Washington D.C 1998. In her adolescent years in the early twentieth century, Jones was intrigued with art and desired to have a career in the arts. Her main focus throughout school was perfecting her art skill, therefore Jones attended the School of Museum of Fine Arts in Boston for college and received a degree in textile design. In the 1920s, Jones switched her preferred art style from textile design to fine art. She began teaching at the Palmer Memorial Institute in North Carolina where she also formed an art department for the institution. Like all other African-American artists, Jones started using more modern art styles and techniques such as abstract art, post impressionism, and cubism. From 1930 to 1977, Jones taught design and watercolor courses at the HBCU Howard University.
Like many African-American artists in the early twentieth century, Lois Mailou Jones experienced what it felt like to just be an artist recognized for her talent rather than her race in France in contrast to the overt racism in the United States at the time. This prompted her to travel to France from the years 1946 to1953 annually in the summertime.
The 1970s in the United States of America, was the rise of the Black Liberation Movement. Black Pride, Black revolution, and Pan-Africanism were in the atmosphere and encouraged the Black community to embrace their culture and for African-American artists to incorporate Africanism into their pieces. Lois Mailou Jones at the time took it upon herself to travel to eleven different countries in Africa to study and learn from their culture and customs. Due to this action, Jones became the United Nations Informational Agency cultural ambassador to the eleven African nations. Her studies in Africa led her to produce a collection of art pieces that show cultural appreciation to each of the countries’ customs and traditions she had visited. Cultural appreciation is when you learn someone’s culture and customs by also honoring and respecting them. In this exhibition, I will be explaining the artwork Lois Mailou Jones produced in response to her visiting these African countries. Not only is Jones embracing Pan-Africanism in her artwork and providing evidence on the diversity of Africa, but she is also conveying the idea of reclaiming her identity.
Credits
Jaelene Tatum