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Close-Up in Black:
African American Film Posters
November 1, 2003-January 4, 2004
The National Heritage Museum welcomed "Close-Up in Black: African American Film Posters," an exhibition recounting the extraordinary story of black film history through the exquisite graphic art of the American movie poster, November 1, 2003 through January 4, 2004. This Smithsonian exhibition was drawn from the collections of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Through visually engaging posters from the Edward Mapp Collection in the academy's Margaret Herrick Library, "Close-Up in Black" chronicled the journey of American actors, directors, writers, designers, camera crews, technicians and graphic artists who fell in love with a medium and brought their talents to its service.
Because many of these artists lived during and through times of social, political and cultural segregation, "Close-Up in Black" illuminated the journey of a nation as well as an art form. The 90 posters in the exhibition, originally designed for promotion and publicity, revealed the opulent energy and glamour of the movies, even as they revealed our cultural history.
Early portrayals of African Americans on film often reinforced minstrel stage stereotypes and racially biased perceptions. Addressing the dearth of positive images, "race movies" of the 1920s and 1930s offered African American performers the opportunity to star in Westerns, comedies, musicals, mysteries, melodramas and crime stories. These films allowed African Americans to see themselves woven into the national popular mythology and provided messages of racial uplift.
After World War II, film studios began to create "message movies" dealing with issues of racism and anti-Semitism. Produced in the 1950s and early 1960s, some of these films became vehicles for the metaphor of American justice.
The 1970s brought an explosion of films echoing the intense political, social and cultural energy of the time. Among these movies were ones with an ostentatious bravado. Termed "blaxploitation" movies, these films were created primarily by Hollywood mainstream film studios. Yet they, along with others of the period, reflected the film industry's attempts to deal with the changing roles of African Americans in society.
In the 1980s and 1990s, a new generation of filmmakers came to the forefront -- some working within the extant structure of the industry, others continuing the creative tradition of independent film. During this period, African Americans became involved in all aspects of film production. As writers, producers, directors, actors, designers, composers and technicians, their influence is evidenced by the expanded scope and breadth of today's African American cinema depictions.
"Close-Up in Black: African American Film Posters" celebrated American film and the art of the film poster. It paid homage to the lineage of African American filmmakers, actors, and artists who struggled to make their statement on film -- the 20th-century's brave new medium. The Defiant Ones, Curtleigh and Lomitas Productions, 1958.
"Close-Up in Black: African American Film Posters" was organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Smithsonian's Center for African American History and Culture.
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