David Hammons, African-American Flag, 1990

About

The Over Holland Foundation has pledged this important work of art to honor the legacy of President Barack Obama.

• David Hammons
• African-American Flag, 1990

Dyed cotton

56 × 88 in. {bio: (142.2 × 223.5 cm)

David Hammons (American, b. 1943)} re-creates the familiar pattern of the American flag using the colors of the flag for the Universal Negro Improvement Association (U.N.I.A), an early twentieth-century black nationalist organization The U.N.I.A. flag featured broad bands of red, black, and green as symbolic colors intended to unite all people of African origin under one banner. Hammons's new version conflates the two flags, perhaps implying that a black nation resides within the United States or, conversely, that such a distinction is impossible. Hammons created African-American Flag for Black USA, a 1990 exhibition at the Museum Overholland in Amsterdam, which was the first exhibition of African American art to be organized by a European museum.

This work is under consideration for acquisition to the MCA Collection.