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Collage of five diverse artworks from the Hammer Museum Collections side by side. From left to right: 1) Contemporary painting of two embracing figures with surreal elements. 2) Post-impressionist style painting of trees with vibrant blues and greens. 3) Black and white illustration of a face with intricate patterns. 4) Japanese woodblock print style image of a figure in a checkered robe. 5) Photograph of a couple dancing, the woman in a black dress and the man in white

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Digital Archive Now Dig This!: Art and Black Los Angeles 1960–1980
Art John Outterbridge, Case in Point, from the Rag Man Series
Case in Point, from the Rag Man Series, by John Outterbridge, c.1970

John Outterbridge, Artist
Case in Point, from the Rag Man Series , c. 1970

Medium
Mixed media
Dimensions
12 x 12 x 24 in. (30.5 x 30.5 x 61 cm)
Credit Line
Hammer Museum, Los Angeles. Purchase. Photo by Ed Glendinning

Case in Point is a sculpture assembled from leather and other materials that closely resembles a bag of grenades. Outterbridge placed the phrase "Packages travel like people" on the luggage tags, communicating intense feelings about his experience with racism on a bus ride in Richmond, Virginia, in 1955. He had recently been discharged from the army and was ushered to the back of the bus despite being in full uniform. With Case in Point, Outterbridge confronts the all-too-common reality of racism that African Americans experienced at home after serving the country abroad in the Korean War.