Barbara Jones-Hogu was one of the 5 founding members of South Chicago’s AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). The collective came together in 1968 to identify and cultivate a cohesive artistic voice around Black art that speaks to aesthetics, and more importantly to the viewer’s experience as Black Americans.
Jones-Hogu’s contributions to AfriCOBRA revolved around printmaking, where she found her distinct talents would be of use to the group. Her bold prints were used in posters with calls to action for the viewer, many of these works focused on messages of self-determination, unity, and empowerment.
As a collective they were focused on communicating a vision of positivity as well as depicting a holistic expression of Blackness through distinct expressions of cultural pride rendered through bold color, text and figuration. Born out of the Civil Rights movement, AfriCOBRA became an intergenerational collective that remained committed to its mission and purpose, reinforcing the idea that the whole is far greater than the sum of its parts.
Culture Shock Art 