Can Your Art Overcome Issues of Social Justice?
The paintings of Norman Lewis in the pursuit of equality.
Norman Lewis
In 2015, an Untitled work of art sold from the Swann Gallery, New York, for $965,000. Not a record-breaking amount for the contemporary art market, but for the artist, Norman Lewis, this was a personal best. Norman Lewis had spent his entire art career fighting the injustice of racism and the prejudice of the American Art establishment. He had been determined to use his art as a way to bring about social change within his community, but can art hope to overcome issues of social justice?
Norman Lewis created figurative paintings inspired by the struggles of the community around him. He believed by painting images of the daily bread lines, regular evictions and the police brutality; this would draw attention to the issues of social justice in his neighbourhood. But 1930 was a difficult time in Harlem, and although Lewis eventually received critical acclaim for his artwork, during his lifetime, his fight remained mostly ignored. It wasn’t that his paintings were inferior in application or style, he was disadvantaged because of the area where he lived, and the colour of his skin.
The record-breaking painting sale in 2015, was a rediscovery of the artist who had spent his life…
