Nothing But a Man: October 8, 2017 – 2:00 – 4:00 pm
The Spook Who Sat by the Door: November 11, 2017 – 2:00 – 5:00 pm
Myrtis Bedolla, Curator; Khadija Nia Adell, Co-curator; Alexander Hyman and Sterling Warren, Curators of Film & Music.
Trailers
Nothing But A Man, 1964
A proud black man and his school-teacher wife face discriminatory challenges in 1960’s America.
Director: Michael Roemer
Stars: Ivan Dixon, Abbey Lincoln, Julius Harris
The Spook Who Sat By The Door, 1973
A black man plays Uncle Tom in order to gain access to CIA training, then uses that knowledge to plot a new American Revolution.
Director: Ivan Dixon
Stars: Lawrence Cook, Janet League, Paula Kelly
Black Man in a Black World features works by Wesley Clark, Larry Cook, Johnnie Lee Gray, and Arvie Smith. Through internal ruminations and visual explorations of historical perspectives and contemporary realities of blackness this exhibition offers individual and collective visions of the multi-faceted intersections of black male identity. Through multimedia presentations of painting, sculpture, printmaking, and photography Black Man in a Black World aims to center the black male perspective through the agency and distinctiveness of their own voices. The reclamation of ownership of the visual representations of black male consciousness and identity, by black male artists, requires the kind of boldness, passion, and honesty that has the power to viscerally ignite the soul and spark a transformation of self and community.
Artwork
The God Seed, Oil paint on wood, acrylic and barbed wire, 11"H x 7"W x 3/4"D, 2017, by Wesley Clark
Factualism, Oil paint, shellac, and wood, 37"H x 34"W, 2017 by Wesley Clark
Dark Matter, Oil paint on wood, rusted metal hinges, 2017 by Wesley Clark
Found, Oil paint, shellac, and plywood, 62"H x 48"W, 2010 by Wesley Clark
Face Off 1, Archival Ink Jet Print, 40" x 30", unframed 2/3, 2014 by Larry Cook
Face Off 2, Archival Ink Jet Print, 40" x 30", unframed 2/3, 2014 by Larry Cook
The Call, Direct Polymetal Print, 40" x 50", 1/3, 2017 by Larry Cook
Do For Self, Installation with fragrance oil, wood display and velour wall shelf, 24" x 5.5" x 10" inches, 2017 by Larry Cook
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: Separate But Equal - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 1 of 3, 20 5/8"H x 27 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: We Shall Overcome - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 2 of 3, 20"H x 26 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: Separate But Equal - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 3 of 3, 20"H x 23 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Minstrel's Guide, Monotype, 30"x 22", 2017 by Arvie Smith
Push Back, Monotype, 30"x 22", 2017 by Arvie Smith
Sampson Bring Down the House, Monotype, 30" x 22", 2017 by Arive Smith
Strange Tale, Monotype, 30" x 22", 2017 by Arvie Smith
The Fighter, Monotype, 22" x 30", 2017 by Arvie Smith
Sampson and the Lion, Monotype, 22" x 30", 2017
Tight Rope, Oil on canvas, 40″ x30″, 2014, by Arvie Smith
Crackers and the Eucharist, Oil on canvas, 52" x 44" by Eric Telfort
Programming Schedule:
Film Nothing But a Man (1964), 92 mins
October 8, 2017
2:00 – 4:00 pm
“Nothing But A Man” is the first of two films selected to screen in tandem with the exhibition “Black Man in a Black World.” Following the screening there will be a panel discussion with guest panelist Raél Jero Salley, and film curators Sterling Warren and Alexander Hyman, about the role of cinema in the historical and contemporary portrayal of black male identity.
Synopsis: A young black man in 1963 Alabama loves a minister’s daughter, works hard, and is put upon, oppressed, and called boy by everyone with whom he comes in contact; he wants to be nothing but a man. view trailer
Artists’ Talk
October 14, 2017
4:00 – 6:00 pm
Join Wesley Clark, Larry Cook and Arvie Smith for a lively discussion about their inspiration and thoughts about their artwork. view past talks in our video library
Film The Spook Who Sat by the Door (1973), 102 mins.
November 11, 2017
2:00 – 4:00 pm
“The Spook Who Sat by the Door” is the second of two films selected to screen in tandem with our current exhibition “Black Man in a Black World.” Following the screening there will be a panel discussion.
Synopsis: The film tells a credible tale of a Black CIA agent who rebels against his role as a racial token and uses his training in counterrevolutionary tactics to organize a guerrilla group in Chicago to fight racism. The story proved so controversial that United Artists was content to let The Spook Who Sat by the Door sink out of sight, although it did attract an avid following among scholars and fans of African-American cinema. view trailer
Myrtis Bedolla, Curator; Khadija Nia Adell, Co-curator; Alexander Hyman and Sterling Warren, Curators of Film & Music.
David Carlson: Paradigms of Structure and Change - Black and White Version
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Working with the unique qualities of painting, drawing, and video, David Carlson engages the poetics of geometry and design through the collision of gestural lines, rounded forms, and layered imagery. Spanning over several years, the bodies of work featured in Paradigms of Structure and Change are in conversation with one another as investigations into the importance of experience and reflection within the process of intuitive creation. Khadija Adell, Curator
Johnnie Lee Gray was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina in 1941. In his early years Gray demonstrated artistic talent, painting and drawing as a way to express his emotions and depict his surroundings. Working alongside his grandparents in the fields of their sharecropper farm, and later as a carpenter, textile mill worker, house painter, Gray learned early on to use the materials of his milieu to create works of art that drew on his memories and experiences as a black American man. read full biography
Artwork for Sale
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: Separate But Equal - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 1 of 3, 20 5/8"H x 27 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: We Shall Overcome - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 2 of 3, 20"H x 26 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: Separate But Equal - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 3 of 3, 20"H x 23 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Juke Joint: Summer of 65', 1992, Acrylic on plywood, 21 1/2"H x 22"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
The Revolution: Separate But Equal – Jim Crow Series, n.d., Acrylic on plywood, 3 of 3, 20″H x 23 5/8″WJohnnie Lee Gray was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina in 1941. In his early years Gray demonstrated artistic talent, painting and drawing as a way to express his emotions and depict his surroundings. Working alongside his grandparents in the fields of their sharecropper farm, and later as a carpenter, textile mill worker, house painter, Gray learned early on to use the materials of his milieu to create works of art that drew on his memories and experiences as a black American man.
After graduating from the county’s segregated Lincoln High School in 1960, Gray enlisted in the Army, where he served for seven years, including an 18-month volunteer tour of duty in Vietnam. As a Vietnam Veteran and self-taught artist, Gray’s work illustrated his experiences in the military as an African-American and the participation of black people in the history of the American and world landscape. Described as “visionary” “outsider” artist, the patterned shapes, visual texture, vibrant palettes and repetitive forms showcased in his paintings are recognizable characteristics of his historical narratives. read full bio
The Revolution: Separate But Equal – Jim Crow Series, n.d., Acrylic on plywood, 3 of 3, 20″H x 23 5/8″WJohnnie Lee Gray was born in Spartanburg County, South Carolina in 1941. In his early years Gray demonstrated artistic talent, painting and drawing as a way to express his emotions and depict his surroundings. Working alongside his grandparents in the fields of their sharecropper farm, and later as a carpenter, textile mill worker, house painter, Gray learned early on to use the materials of his milieu to create works of art that drew on his memories and experiences as a black American man.
After graduating from the county’s segregated Lincoln High School in 1960, Gray enlisted in the Army, where he served for seven years, including an 18-month volunteer tour of duty in Vietnam. As a Vietnam Veteran and self-taught artist, Gray’s work illustrated his experiences in the military as an African-American and the participation of black people in the history of the American and world landscape. Described as “visionary” “outsider” artist, the patterned shapes, visual texture, vibrant palettes and repetitive forms showcased in his paintings are recognizable characteristics of his historical narratives.
Recently earning his spot in history along notable artists like Jacob Lawrence and Robert Colescott, Gray’s parting prayer was that his wife of 22 years, Shirley Sims Gray, would be blessed through his artwork and provided for after he passed (2000). Mrs. Gray later went on to establish Art by J. Lee Gray, Inc, and serves as the CEO for this private collection. In 2004, one of his paintings—depicting sharecroppers picking cotton—sold for $100,000, a significant price for the work of an outsider artist.
A pivotal point in Johnnie Lee Gray’s career came after his death, when PBS and Thirteen/WNET New York reached out to Mrs.Gray to conduct an interview for their ongoing research on the African-American experience with legally enforced segregation, otherwise known as Jim Crow. While interviewing her, researchers discovered her husband’s extensive body of work revealing the storyteller they were looking for. Shortly after New York Life Insurance Company became the official corporate sponsor for the television series The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow, airing nationally in the fall of 2002, which prominently featured Grays work. This new attention and recognition prompted a traveling exhibition in 2003, curated by Dr. Gwendolyn H. Everett of Howard University, with its official opening night at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, NY.
From 2003-2009, Johnnie Lee Gray’s work was exhibited in such venues as the Russell Senate Office Building Rotunda, Washington D.C.; The Forbes Galleries, Manhattan, NY; Chicago Historical Society, Chicago, IL; Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, GA; California State University, Northridge, CA; the Spartanburg County Museum of Art, SC; University of Virginia Art Museum, Charlottesville, VA; Gibbes Museum of Art, Charleston, SC; Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA; Livingstone College, Salisbury, NC; Converse College Milliken Art Gallery, Spartanburg, SC; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Harlem, NY; and the Cherokee County History & Arts Museum, Gaffney, SC. 1
Significant exhibitions include traveling solo exhibits: “Rising Above Jim Crow: The paintings of Johnnie Lee Gray”, 2003 and “Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art”, 2007-2008.
1 Biography information sourced from Rising Above Jim Crow: The Paintings of Johnnie Lee Gray by Dr. Gwendolyn H. Everett, PH.D., 2004, New York Life Insurance Company
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: Separate But Equal - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 1 of 3, 20 5/8"H x 27 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: We Shall Overcome - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 2 of 3, 20"H x 26 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Revolution: Separate But Equal - Jim Crow Series, N.D., Acrylic on plywood, 3 of 3, 20"H x 23 5/8"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Johnnie Lee Gray, The Juke Joint: Summer of 65', 1992, Acrylic on plywood, 21 1/2"H x 22"W (framed), Provenance: Collection of Mrs. Shirley Sims Gray
Night Travelers (detail), Gelatin printing, mixed media on paper, 6 ft. x 12.5 ft. (Triptych), 2016 by Delita Martin, American
Building Bridges: The Politics of Love, Identity and Race
May 13 – July 21, 2017
Building Bridges: The Politics of Love, Identity and Race features works by American and Cuban artists who unite to investigate the politicization of love, identity and race. Artists of multi‐racial and multi‐cultural backgrounds explore the notion of love—as power and play; offer conceptual and formal dialogue on identity; and examine race as a mechanism to unify or divide a nation and its people.
The exhibit builds upon the new relationship charted by America and Cuba. Participating in the exhibit are preeminent Cuban artists: Julia Valdés Borreno, Zaida del Rio, Alicia Leal Veloz and Eduardo Roca (Choco) Salazar will be visiting from Havana, Cuba.
Featured Artists
Cuban: Julia Valdés Borreno, Zaida del Rio, Alicia Leal Veloz and Eduardo Roca (Choco) Salazar
American: Morel Doucet, Michael Gross, Jamea Richmond-Edwards and Delita Martin
Curated by Myrtis Bedolla and Ana Joa
Artwork
Sin Título (Untitled), 2017, Mixed media, acrylic on canvas, 38" H x 52" W, by, Julia Valdés Borrero
Sin Título (Untitled), 2017, Mixed media, acrylic on canvas, 19 11/16"H x 47 5/16"W, by, Julia Valdés Borrero
Sin Título (Untitled), 2017, Mixed media, acrylic on caAnvas, 19 7/8"H x 27 11/16"W, by, Julia Valdés Borrero
El Abrazo (The Hug), 2014, Collography, 44 1/2"H x 35"W (framed), by Eduardo Roca (Choco) Salazar
Empujando el Muro (Pushing the Wall), 2001, Collography, 25 3/16"H x 39 11/16"W (unframed), by Eduardo Roca (Choco) Salazar
El Cazador (The Hunter), 2001, Collography, 29"H x 25 1/2"W (framed), by Eduardo Roca (Choco) Salazar
De Perfil III (Profile III), 2013, Collography, 24"H x 18 3/4"W (framed), by Eduardo Roca (Choco) Salazar
Atabey, 2011, Ink on paper, 19.5"H x 15.5"W, (framed) by Morel Doucet
Acionna, 2013, Pen and ink on paper, 19.5"H x 15.5"W (framed) by Morel Doucet
The Sweeter the Juice, 2016
Mixed Media Collage on Canvas
40” x 30"
In the Beginning, 2016
Mixed Media Collage on Canvas
40” x 30"
Mother of Men, 2016
Mixed Media Collage on Canvas
48” x 36"
The Cost of Making Her Run, 2014, Ink and chalk pastel on board 40"H x 32"W (diptych) by Jamea Richmond Edwards
Allegory of a Free Mind #3, 2016, Conte, ink and oil on paper, 19"H x 19"W (framed) by Jamea Richmond Edwards
Colors 2, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, 48"H x 36"W by Michael Gross
Color 6 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 48"H x 108"W (diptych) by Michael Gross
Moonflower, 2017, Charcoal, relief printing, acrylic, decorative papers, and hand-stitching, 60.5"H x 49"W by Delita Martin
Night Travelers, 2016, Gelatin printing, mixed media on paper, On View at the David Driskell Center, 6'H x 12.5'W (triptych) by Delita Martin
The Watcher, 2015
Gelatin Printing, Hand-stitched fabric, Conte, 38 x 50 in. by Delita martin
Meet Me in the Night, 2016
Acrylic, Relief Printing, Conte, Hand-Stitching, Decorative Papers
39” x 50” by Delita Martin
I Know How to Read and Write, 28" x 20", Mix media on cardboard, 2014, by Zaida Del Rio
Aurora, 22" x 30", Mix media on cardboard, 2015, by Zaida Del Rio
Rosalia, 22" x 30", Mix media on cardboard, 2015, by Zaida Del Rio
Daughters of Yemayá, 22" x 30", Mix media on cardboard, 2016, by Zaida Del Rio
La Rama Natural, 2016, Mixta-tela (mixed media on canvas), 51.5"H x 37.5"W by Zaida del Río
Crossing, Acrylic on canvas, 40” x 60”, 2016, by Alicia Leal Veloz, Cuban
My Flag, Acrylic on canvas, 58” x 39”, 2016, by Alicia Leal Veloz
From My Home, Acrylic on canvas, 39” x 32”, 2016, by Alicia Leal Veloz
The Bride of the Tree, Acrylic on canvas, 35” x28” 2016, by Alicia Leal Veloz
Perlas para un collar, 2017, Acrylic on canvas, Unframed request Viewing 39" H x 32.75" W, by Alicia Leal Veloz
Little Girl of My Thought, Acrylic on canvas, 2006, by Alicia Leal Veloz
Seated Woman, 1987, Color viscosity etching, A/P, 31"H x 25"W (framed) by Stephenie Pogue, Provenance: William Pogue Collection
Exploring the Life of Adolphus Ealey and the Barnett Aden Gallery
Adolphus EaleyThis Gallery Talk explores the life of Dr. Adolphus Ealey (1941-1992) who served as the curator and director of The Barnett Aden Gallery, which was founded in 1943, by Professor James Herring of Howard University and his student, Alonzo Aden, the first curator. The gallery helped to launch the careers of artists such as Romare Bearden, Elizabeth Catlett, David Driskell, John Farrar, Lois Mailou Jones, Herman Maril, Delilah Pierce, James Porter, Céline Marie Tabary, Charles Sebree, Henry O. Tanner, Alma Thomas, Laura Wheeler Waring, James Wells, Charles White, Ellis Wilson and Hale Woodruff. The gallery operated for 26 years in Washington, D.C. and was the nation’s first successful black-owned art gallery.
Myrtis BedollaMyrtis Bedolla, Curator, will share insights about the pioneering Barnett Aden Gallery and Ealey’s role as its second curator and director, and examine his career as artist and scholar. In 1969, Ealey inherited the famed Barnett-Aden collection which consisted of over 250 works of art by 19th and 20th century artists. The most revered pieces were those created by African Americans. Today, the majority of the collection is owned by Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET).
Bedolla will also address why the Barnett Aden Gallery was established; how the collection was built, why Ealey sold the collection for $6 million in 1989; and how Robert L. Johnson came to acquire it ten years later.
Michael EvansonMichael Evanson was one of Adolphus Ealey’s close and dear friends. They met in Philadelphia around 1976 when Adolphus became the museum director for the African American Museum of Philadelphia. During the course of their friendship Adolphus helped open a new dimension of appreciation in Michael for fine arts and the art world.
Michael was fortunate to ride around as co-pilot on many of Adolphus’ artistic journeys in Washington, DC as Adolphus was museum curator, art appraiser, art collector, and creative consultant to many clients, artists, and business associates in the Washington area. Michael appreciates that Adolphus was an extraordinary artist himself and always worked to ensure a lasting legacy for the Barnett-Aden Collection.
Exhibitions
Film
Artists’ Talk
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