Story 2image Chinese Simplified
When asked about the power of art as a form of activism, Fonda notes, ‘I don't know of more powerful statements about the challenges faced in the Jim Crow South than these works of art. These aren't just commentaries on social wrongs. These are testaments to them by people who experienced it, who lived it.’
From that point on she got to know the artists Arnett was supporting, visiting their home studios and yard art displays in Birmingham and surrounding communities in Alabama. She was particularly drawn to the work of Thornton Dial, a self-taught artist whose dynamic paintings and assemblages of found objects depict the struggles of Black Americans. His vibrant, unflinching depictions offer incisive social commentary on racism, sexism and the violence of war.