Inspired by an 1863 sculpture at the Carter of a Black man in shackles, the artists consider what's been happening to African Americans the past 160 years.
What is it: Alfred Amadou Conteh's art primarily revolves around diasporic Black communities, especially in Atlanta — where he lives and works — and how such groups respond to social issues. Conteh said he likes his work to look as though it’s been rusting because he wants to show the ways that systemic discrimination affects the body. In his sculpture, “Float,” a Black woman carries the weight of the community and of protecting her people. But as she’s rising and floating, she’s also weighed down by discrimination (represented by the chains).
On the other hand, Conteh's painting. “A Charge to Keep," portrays a Black man thinking how to protect his children — connecting it to the right to bear arms and the right to farm one's own food. A gun and a shovel are in the form of a cross in front of the man and his sons. Conteh said those symbolize things that are used to build a society: “The shovel is a tool to break ground, to build. And the rifle is a tool to protect."
Why is it: Conteh said “Float” centers on tithing and how Black women are the primary contributors to African-American churches. “Ironically, the money that’s tithed is taken to banks, and often those monies are leant out to land development firms,” he said. “And often when those subdivisions are built near or adjacent to Black neighborhoods . . . they price people to move out of their homes.”
What this work says about America's long struggle over emancipation: Both pieces tap into the narrative of being emancipated in name but not in practice, Conteh said. Both touch on protection. Conteh's perspective is that of an artist working in Atlanta, considered a “Black mecca of the South." His work is meant to challenge that image, said Conteh — he hopes to give a no-nonsense look at what it’s actually like for the people who live there. His work reflects how African Americans work for liberation, freedom and protection.
A detail viewers can look for: The object behind the woman’s head in Conteh’s “Float” is a church hat, which African-American women typically wore in the 19th century. The hat shows how the church has traditionally been a way for Black women to try to keep their communities whole.
