Chapter 7: Black Art Visuality: (Re)Directing the Black Gaze in Art Education

The significance of seeing positive images of yourself is vital to understanding your identity and culture. Art shows the viewer how to visualize the past, present, and future. Often the pictures of Black culture distort or misconstrue reality. This chapter explains the significance of seeing and looking at Black artwork from a different gaze and spectatorship than the traditional western canon. The author, a Black artist and art educator, describes the influence and exposure of Black art visuality that (re)shifts the gaze, (re)directs spectatorship, and (re)sees social differences of the Black community. The author describes how they (re)create the Black gaze through three paintings in this chapter. Through a critical visual methodology of how images are produced, circulated, represented, and experienced, the author suggests ways for teachers, curriculum developers, and administration to incorporate Black art visuality into the classroom to develop a deeper appreciation for Black artists’ contributions to art education.