Articles by Benjamin Looker

669

From Far and Wide

'Poets of Action': The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 4-4)

by Benjamin Looker
December 19, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 SOURCE ESSAY The most thorough overview of the Black Artists' Group to date is Peter Madden's unpublished Master's Thesis, “Creative Collectivism: A Study of the AACM, BAG, and the CAC," (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan, April 1996), though Madden's focus is only on the musical component. BAG's musical component is also briefly discussed in John Litweiler, The Freedom Principle: Jazz After 1958 (New York: William ...

513

From Far and Wide

'Poets of Action': The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 3-4)

by Benjamin Looker
December 19, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 ST. LOUIS, PARIS, NEW YORK CITY After four years of operation in St. Louis, the leading musicians of BAG had grown frustrated with the lack of opportunities in St. Louis and in the United States. As mentioned earlier, Hemphill's record label Mbari, which he started because few domestic labels would record BAG's type of music, suffered from poor distribution. Outside of a small underground arts ...

512

From Far and Wide

Poets of Action: The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 2-4)

by Benjamin Looker
December 19, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 ACTIVISM AND AFROCENTRISM The new intersection of politics and the arts that emerged in the 1960s enabled BAG members to engage in projects reflecting some of the political and social tenor of the time. The theater component of BAG, in particular, chose to tackle experimental and highly political material, exploring important social issues of the late '60s and early '70s. BAG's members were influenced especially ...

1,050

From Far and Wide

Poets of Action: The Saint Louis Black Artists' Group, 1968-1972 (Part 1-4)

by Benjamin Looker
December 19, 2004

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 St. Louis has always been careful to cover its tracks, razing its history so it can start over again with a clean slate. Occasionally, though, the past sticks a foot in the door of the future and demands to be let in. One such stubborn caller, whose voice has been muffled, but not quite silenced, is BAG. Between 1967 and 1972, St. Louis was home ...