Murry DePillars: art spans themes from ancestral Africa, the period of American slavery, and more recent historical events including the Civil Rights Movement, as well as contemporary cultural traditions.
DePillars was a longtime member of AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists) an organization with the mission to explore and define the Black visual aesthetic. DePillars, a longtime Richmond resident, passed away in 2008.
Some of his early works include detailed line drawings and imagery of civil rights episodes from the 1960s. The pivotal Aunt Jemima work transforms an image regarding Aunt Jemima on the pancake and waffle package, but also commemorates the protest by John Carlos and Tommy Smith at the Mexico City Olympics.
The stars behind the Aunt Jemima, upon closer inspection, are police badges. Mrs. Mary DePillars, DePillars’ wife, explained that the art was created following the violent summer of 1968, and the badge symbols were a direct response to the raid of the Black Panther headquarters.
