The Power Behind Art: Black Art in the Absence of Light

Henry Ossawa Tanner’s Daniel in the Lions Den, 1907-1918

Two Centuries of African American Art was an exhibition full of Black art most people had never heard of in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1976. Then it eventually went to Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, and the Brooklyn museum showing work from Aaron Douglass and Jacob Lawerence. 

The summary of the exhibition is still written on LACM)’s website and is as stated:

“It was the first comprehensive survey of African American art which, following its premier at LACMA, toured three other major U.S. art institutions. The premise was to acknowledge the work of black artists during the period of 1750 to 1950, whose contributions to American art had largely been neglected. Featuring over 200 works and 63 artists, the show included painting, sculpture, drawing, graphics, crafts and decorative arts.” (LACMA).

You can find the complete checklist on there as well which states every piece in the collection by artist, title, and lender. To call these pieces “neglected” truly amounts to the fact that Black history is often neglected or erased no matter if its scientific inventions or art work or ever true events. The 200 years from 1750 and 1950 are part of the most important and historic  collection of events like the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade, Reconstruction, Jim Crow segregation, The Great Migration and more. 

Could that be the reasoning behind the documentary’s title? “Black Art: In the Absence of Light” could refer to how Black art was shunned or hidden away from the world view. Through the exhibition, we are pushing history into the light whether it's accepted or not. What other histories in American history are we missing, are not seeing? The scientific accomplishments, the cures for illnesses, the solutions to our climate crisis could we use art to bring these into people's minds? Jordan Casteel says the exhibition gives him “a sense of belonging… My community of Black American artists that come before me have created the ground for me to build on”(Pollard 0:06:49). What community would we create with the lesser known visual accomplishments of our ancestral pasts? 

Charles White’s Seed of Love, 1969

Art is resistance. The power creation has caused innovations in societal standards, technological advancement, and even the standings of law is insurmountable. The question they ask is, “...do we have the capacity to be great makers in the absence of light?”(Pollard 01:22:48). Is that not what resistance is? Not to answer a question with another question of course. I am at the understanding that resistance is fighting for change in a social group or community against an oppressor. Therefore you have to be a great maker even when the world feels the darkest. In that case, make that loud political bold art you've been thinking about. Push yourself to share your resistance in a world where voices are silenced. You can’t silence a work of art, you can’t ignore a light in the darkness.

Black Art: In the Absence of Light. Directed by Sam Pollard. HBO Documentary Films®, 2021. Accessed September 25, 2025.

“Daniel in the Lions’ Den.” Daniel in the Lions’ Den | LACMA Collections. Accessed September 28, 2025. https://collections.lacma.org/node/228961. 

“Seed of Love.” Seed of Love | LACMA Collections. Accessed September 28, 2025. https://collections.lacma.org/node/237726. 

“Two Centuries of Black American Art.” LACMA, December 28, 2010. https://www.lacma.org/art/exhibition/two-centuries-black-american-art.