Brockman Gallery

Brockman Gallery
Formation1967
FounderAlonzo Davis
Dale Brockman Davis
Dissolved1990
Headquarters4334 Degnan Avenue,
Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California
Location
  • United States
Coordinates34°00′18″N 118°19′52″W / 34.004956°N 118.331237°W / 34.004956; -118.331237

Brockman Gallery (1967 – 1990) of Leimert Park in Los Angeles, California, was the first major commercial art gallery run by Black artists, for Black artists.[1][2][3][4] It was founded during the Black Arts Movement.[5]

History

Brockman Gallery was founded in 1967 by brothers Alonzo Davis, and Dale Brockman Davis.[1] They named the gallery after their grandmother, Della Brockman.[6]

The gallery provided exhibition space for artists in their early career including Dan Concholar, Maren Hassinger, David Hammons, Ulysses Jenkins, Senga Nengudi, John Outterbridge, Noah Purifoy, Betye Saar, and Charles W. White.[1][7]

By the early 1970s, the brothers had transformed the gallery into a broader community art space and hosted a festival in Leimert Park.[8] In 1973 the brothers founded a non-profit organization called Brockman Productions to support art in the Black community in Los Angeles.[9][10]

Legacy

For a brief period in the 1960s and 1970s in the United States, there was a period of major art galleries run by and for Black artists. Other notable Black-owned art galleries during this era include BlackMan's Art Gallery (1967–1974) of San Francisco, Gallery 32 (1968–1970) of Los Angeles, and Just Above Midtown (known as JAM Gallery; 1973–1989) of New York City.[1][2][11][12]

In 2019, the Davis brothers donated the Brockman Gallery Archive to the Los Angeles Public Library.[7]

The KCET television series Artbound featured a 2024 episode titled "Black Art: A Brockman Gallery Legacy" (season 15, episode 4).[13]

The Lancaster Museum of Art and History in Lancaster, California held the exhibition, Act On It: Artists, Community and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles (2025).[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Miller, M. H. (April 13, 2020). "How a Trio of Black-Owned Galleries Changed the Art World". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  2. ^ a b "Act on It! Artists, Community, and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles". Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). January 13, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  3. ^ Blaine, John; Baker, Decia, eds. (1973). "Single Arts Experience Orientation". Community Arts of Los Angeles (Report). Los Angeles Community Art Alliance. p. 4. hdl:10139/2728. OCLC 912321031.
  4. ^ "Pacific Standard Time: A timeline". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 2011.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  5. ^ Le Falle-Collins, Lizzetta (March 4, 2014). "The Brockman Gallery and the Village". PBS SoCal. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
  6. ^ Dale Davis (2011). "Brockman Gallery". In Tilton, Connie Rogers; Charlwood, Lindsay (eds.). L.A. Object & David Hammonds Body Prints. New York: Tilton Gallery. pp. 76–85. ISBN 978-1-4276-1374-5.
  7. ^ a b "Library to make Brockman Gallery Archive available to the public". Beverly Press Park Labrea News. March 28, 2019.
  8. ^ Widener, Daniel (2010). Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles. Durham: Duke University Press. pp. 158–159. ISBN 978-0822346791.
  9. ^ Gyorody, Andrea (August 26, 2011). Jones, Kellie (ed.). Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles, 1960-1980. Prestel. p. 258. ISBN 978-3791351360.
  10. ^ "New Summer Program Set". Southwest News. June 29, 1972. p. 39. Retrieved December 4, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Modern Art in Los Angeles: Gallery 32". The Getty Research Institute. January 2009.
  12. ^ "Just Above Midtown (JAM) Archives in The Museum of Modern Art Archives". Museum of Modern Art.
  13. ^ Black Art: A Brockman Gallery Legacy, Artbound. Retrieved December 4, 2025 – via Thirteen.org.
  14. ^ "Act On It: Artists, Community and the Brockman Gallery in Los Angeles". Roberts Projects LA. Retrieved December 4, 2025.
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