Dana Chandler, Jr.

Dana C. Chandler Jr. (American, b. 1941)

Active in the Black Nationalism movement and desegregation bussing programs for Boston Public Schools, Chandler attended MassArt (BS, 1967); he has also exhibited as Akin Duro. Utilizing his art to fight for social justice, Chandler’s controversial work from the 1960s criticized the commodification of civil rights leaders and racism in the penal system. In contrast, his work of the 1970s-80s is typified by bold geometric abstraction. Chandler founded the African American Master Artists-in-Residence Program at Northeastern and taught at Simmons College from 1971 to his 2004 retirement.

Important Source Material:

Chandler, Dana. If the shoe fits, hear it: paintings and drawings, 1967-1976. Boston, MA: African-American Studies Dept., Northeastern University, 1976.

Chandler, Dana. Dana Chandler retrospective 1967-1987: the more things change, the more they remain the same. Let my people go! Boston, MA: The College, 1987.

Oral History Interview with Dana Chandler, 1993 March. 11-May 5. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

NHS