Barbara Jones-Hogu cofounded the Chicago artist collective AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) in 1968. The collective sought to define a uniquely Black aesthetic in the visual arts and focused on positive imagery celebrating Blackness, Black lives, and unifying messages of Black pride. Jones-Hogu’s colorful screen-printed poster Heritage incorporates forms referencing a range of historic African masks. In some instances, human faces in profile seem to merge with the masks. The composition is crowned by three female faces, two in profile and one facing the viewer, each with hollow, masklike eyes. For Jones-Hogu, these three faces represent the past, present, and future.
Jones-Hogu created Heritage for the first AfriCOBRA exhibition, Ten in Search of a Nation, held in 1970. Posters of the works displayed were provided for attendees. The artists’ statement about the exhibition and their collective reads:
“It is Nation Time and we are searching. In the spirit of Nation-ness we are examining the roots and branches of our African Family Tree for the seeable which is most expressive of our people/art. We are trying to make images inspired by sublimely SuPerreal African people/experience in the U.S.A. Images that all African people can dig on directly. Images that jar the senses and cause movement. Poster art. Images designed for mass production. Inexpensive. We want everyone to have some. All the SuPerreal people.”
Image Description: A colorful screen-printed poster featuring a composition of overlapping forms inspired by African masks and African American faces. At the top, a central female face stares forward, flanked by two faces in profile. The faces have stylized masklike eyes and are depicted in shades of yellow, black, and brown, with textured hair in a natural Afro style. Below are three masks with abstracted, geometric features aligned horizontally against a design of vivid colors—red, green, yellow, orange, purple, and black—and abstract black-and-white patterns. Six additional human faces, four in profile and two in three-quarter view, integrate into the symmetrical design.
