This is a photograph, After 'Invisible Man' by Ralph Ellison, the prologue,that was taken by Jeff Wall that is commenting on racism against black males in today's American society. The thing I love about this picture is the use of all of the light bulbs that are used to make the insinuation that black males in society at the time that this picture was taken needed this many light bulbs to see themselves and to be seen and recognized by society. It also seems to be a look inside what could have been a typical house, besides all of the light bulbs, of a regular African American male in American society at this time, which was around 1999-2000.

This picture comes from a Chicago Tribune of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. Here, we see again the use of light bulbs that inspired the photograph above this one.

 

Above, another interpretation of Ralph Ellison's original work. A more modern take on The Invisible Man. It resides at the memorial dedicated to Ralph Ellison around the Queens area. Also at his memorial is a stone with a quote by Ellison in which he talks about his original thoughts about New York and that he imagined it to be the most free of American cities, and how he, "...was both young and bookish enough to think of Manhattan as my substitute for Paris, and of Harlem as a place of Left Bank excitement."

 

War Game, 2007  by Jeff Wall was on exhibit in London at White Cube Mason's Yard in 2007 and 2008. This could have been a shelter built by what looks like children who had no other choice and who are trying to make their way in New York years ago when it was tougher for people of African American descent to be successful in society. This is a sad picture for the fact that it looks like nobody had the heart to take these children in and give them a home or just a little help in their time of need. The fact that people let children live like this is one of the heartbreaking motifs of this photo.

 

David Hammons, another artist who was part of the art movement that focused on African American people and artists. He did body prints by covering his body with margarine and pressing it onto printing paper, and used powdered pigment to create the black color on his works of art. This piece is called Boy with Flag. This looks to be commenting on the African American race in American society and them trying to fit in and make something of themselves while being pushed down and around by people of other cultures.