Elyseo J. Taylor
Black Art, Black Artists (1971)
From L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema (1971-2006)
As the only Black faculty member in UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television, Elyseo Taylor was an influential teacher and advocate for students of color. In voiceover dialogue with woodcut printmaker Van Slater, Taylor’s film examines the status of contemporary Black artists. A visual survey of Black art since the 19th century, punctuated with jazz and blues selections, outlines pressures to prove artistic capability, to suit white and middle-class Black tastes and to make explicit political statements. —Jacqueline Stewart