Afrodesia and Mira Gandy

1971

Afrodesia and Mira Gandy, 1971. Dindga McCannon (American, b. 1947). Linocut on Color-aid paper; sheet: 30.5 x 29.2 cm (12 x 11 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Alma and Robert D. Milne Fund 2020.287 © Dindga McCannon Dindga McCannon was an important artist within the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s and 70s and co-founded the artists’ collective WWA (Where We At, Black Women Artists, Inc.) with Kay Brown and Faith Ringgold. Created in the year the group was formed, this print depicts McCannon’s daughter Afrodesia at age four, alongside her friend Mira Gandy, who went on to become an artist herself. McCannon favors printmaking for its ability to reach a broader audience than other media and often uses it to explore themes from the lives of women, such as the one seen here. Dindga McCannon studied at the Art Students League in New York, where artist Jacob Lawrence was her mentor.