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Juneteenth has been observed since June 19, 1866, marking the anniversary of the day in 1865 when the last major group of slaves in Texas learned of their freedom shortly after the end of the Civil War.
Coinciding with the federal holiday, Luna Gallery is hosting “Beyond Bullwhip Days,” an exhibition featuring artist Germain Hatcher’s interpretations of photographs of former slaves.
Drawing on her extensive research and inspired by “Bullwhip Days,” a collection of transcribed interviews with former slaves, Hatcher’s paintings offer deeply human and compassionate portrayals, presenting her subjects as individuals rather than faceless victims of injustice.
“What came to mind as I was hanging them up,” Luna Gallery Director Jennifer Colby said, “was that the work really gives dignity to the people that she’s portraying. It’s an interesting continuity in history that we should keep in mind as we support other people’s freedom.”
Hatcher is a Pacific Grove-based artist who studied at Monterey Peninsula College and the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles. She has served as a muralist for Monterey County, creating works at the Salinas Courthouse and in Soledad and Gonzales.
She said she became interested in firsthand accounts of slavery after reading “Bullwhip Days,” and the idea of a series of paintings on the subject began to take shape.
As Hatcher researched the subject, she discovered more interviews and over 2,500 photographs from the Works Progress Administration collection, which served as the basis for the book.
“I was really interested in hearing what the experience was like,” she said, “and those transcripts were the best way to learn about it. I did charcoal and graphite collages, then started painting studies, sort of making my way towards this grand painting that I have in my head.”
Hatcher said when she wound up with so much material, she began trying to connect individual photographs together with their available narrative histories.
“I wanted to reunite the people with their voices,” she said, “so that you could kind of see who the people were and they could tell you a little bit of their story. You don’t necessarily hear about this kind of history until you’ve been exposed to the people themselves.”
The first paintings in the exhibition are of seed packets, tying into the farm work that was the driving force behind slavery. In many of the pieces, those themes appear in washed-out details, as do the Freedom Quilts, which, according to legend, were used as guides for those trying to escape slavery via the Underground Railroad.
“I wanted to incorporate things like cotton or peanuts into the pictures with the people,” Hatcher said. “Some of them are pretty basic, a person, and plants in the background. It’s just a conversation between the botanical and the person that’s in the piece.”
Hatcher said she wants those who see the work to consider questions such as what people had to do to keep moving forward in their lives under conditions of servitude, and what came afterward.
“I think that those stories are really important,” she said. “How does it all work out? I want people to really look at the pieces and set their stories in their minds, however that story works out. And at least acknowledge that these people have a story.”
Colby said she was amazed by Hatcher’s ability to create visuals based on her source material, so that each has a sense of that life.
“It’s the little things she puts into them that make you understand the context,” she said. “As we explore America’s 250th anniversary, it’s good to look back and see how these people shaped the economy that helped build this nation through an agricultural lens.”
Hatcher said that while it is impossible to fully understand the stories of the people she portrays, she thinks it’s important to acknowledge the complexities of their lives and get to know a little about who they were.
“History is not necessarily complete,” she said. “There are so many people and things that we don’t hear about or know. History is made by these everyday people. We get heroes, but we don’t get everyday people who make it through, doing everyday things.”
An artist talk will be held at Luna Gallery (107 B The Alameda, San Juan Bautista) on June 20 at 4 p.m., followed by a reception. Exhibition hours are noon to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through June 26.
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