Sherman Beck
(American, b. 1942)
Untitled, 1972
Lithograph
Museum purchase with funds from the Binghamton Fund
2021.5
Beck was an early member of the Chicago-based AfriCOBRA collective (African Commune
of Bad Relevant Artists) which was established in 1968 as a culmination of a series
of collective actions and solidarities by Black artists in Chicago in the late 1960s.
Focusing on positive images and humanism, AfriCOBRA centered African-American people
as the subject matter and arbiters of Black art. Reflecting on this for their first
exhibition (of which Beck was a participant), AfriCOBRA co-founder Jeff Donaldson
wrote “Our people are our standard of excellence. We strive for images inspired by
African people/experience and images which African people can relate to directly without
formal art training and/or experience.” While this print was created a few years after
Beck left the group to pursue a degree in plastic and graphic arts at the University
of Illinois Chicago, it still embodies these ideals. The three faces, suggest a multiplicity
of paths forward, while the figure in the foreground crouches, full of potential energy.
—Claire L. Kovacs, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions
This print is currently on view in the “Big Prints” exhibition In the Mezzanine Gallery through May 14, 2022.
Search the database
You will soon be able to search the database containing images and records of the entire permanent collection. Please return to this webpage!