Insights on Angela Davis Exibition

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Before visiting this exhibition at the Zimmerli Art Museum, I didn't know much about Angela Davis, or even the history and development of the Communist Party and the Black movement in the U.S., except for some famous events and organizations such as Martin Luther King, the Black Lives Matter movement and the Black Panther Party. And as I entered the pavilion and saw the artwork and archives related to this remarkable woman, I was deeply touched by her and the story behind her. I was amazed at her ideas about the civil rights movement and the effort she put into it. Her being wanted and imprisoned by the FBI for trumped-up charges certainly epitomizes society-wide human rights and racial issues. Her powerful speech and her eventual acquittal were both reassuring - she won, proving that "equality" can stand out and win. I saw the wisdom and courage of this woman's human nature shine through. She is certainly a role model.

There is this one item that I found stands out in the exhibition is the one the artist uses a red color pen to illustrate Angela Davis's portrait and connected her hair with Stalin's facial hair. This piece is not only interesting in the composition of the image, assessing from the art perspective, and the unique arrangement of the two main characters--Davis and Stalin--with the imagination of connecting hair to hair, but also the idea connections of them, as Davis has been a long time member of the Communist Party USA. Much of her advocacy and thought came from the ideology of communism. As a major figure in the prison abolition movement, her exploration of the forms and systems of American prisons was from an affirmative action perspective, which was the embodiment of communist ideology. She chose a direction on the road to democracy that was radical in American society. This is one of the reasons why she went to the center of these events. One of the indirect reasons for Davis' arrest in these events was that she was a member of the Communist Party. And in the end, she was acquitted because of her voice and the efforts of many activists, and at the same time, more people began to re-examine the ongoing issue of black Americans and prisons and racial discrimination in the issue of crime. She and Stalin, who were both radicals who worked and spoke out for human rights equality, share plenty of similarities in thought and action. This is why I think this work has high artistic attainment: it is not only imaginative on a pictorial level, but it makes a work full of ideas and meanings, which is an important aspect of art.

One of the things I learned very deeply during my visit was the importance of art and literature in social movements and the spread of ideas. I saw countless newspapers, books, and posters of the time in the exhibition, as well as countless amazing paintings created by artists. All of this made me marvel at the enormous role of art and literature, one of the manifestations of human intelligence, in these social and historical movements that changed society, and it made me think about what we can do with this tool of intelligence. Art and literature are sensational in that they allow us to receive the ideas and consciousness that the authors want to convey from the most immediate senses. All I can think of is to be committed to the ideas I hold, just like Angela Davis, and that is why I chose journalism and ppe as my major: I want to state what I think is important and beneficial for people, and make a dif

ference for society to be a better place. Angela Davids and her movements dropped a bomb on American society on the problem that has bothered for a long time, and it sure should believe movements and ideas later on till today have been affected by Davis. And all we can do is carry the heart and soul of our predecessors and continue to work continuously for our idealism and that of the whole society.