Lamerol Gatewood
The Abstract Energy of Sound
From November 3 through December 30, 2021, the Wilmer Jennings Gallery at Kenkeleba is pleased to present paintings by multi-disciplinary, conceptual artist, LAMEROL GATEWOOD.
THE ABSTRACT ENERGY OF SOUND includes 35 works on paper made between 2011 to 2020.
Born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1954, Lamerol Gatewood became interested in ceramics in High School. He was trained in detailed technical drawing at McDonnell Douglas, while being encouraged to study painting by artist Michael Marshall. Gatewood received a MFA from Lindenwood University and a MFA from Southern Illinois University before moving to New York City in 1986. Gatewood began a twenty-five-year career teaching art in Brooklyn for the Board of Education. At the same time, he had solo shows in the Midwest and Southeast, and showed in group exhibitions at Dorsey’s Gallery in Brooklyn, Hudson Guild Gallery, Christiane Nienaber Gallery, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, and City College, CUNY.
St. Louis has been an important center of African American culture since its founding in 1764. Missouri is the birthplace of leading literary figures, and has a renowned musical tradition in the Blues, Ragtime and Jazz. St. Louis provided vital information, and Gatewood has said that his vision stems from the rhythm and sounds of his community. He has said that his best work develops while immersing himself in the sounds of Jazz and African Diasporic music. His aim has been to construct work that expresses the sounds of music.
“UNTITLED NO. 2012-001” by Lamerol Gatewood 33” X 50” | Charcoal –Acrylic-Oil Stick on Paper
Combining paintings and drawings into a collage offered him a new voice. While not overt political narratives, they deal with politics of the time. Influenced by his grandparents who were quilt makers, he was steeped in the tradition of learning by watching, renewing and repurposing old materials. The process of deconstructing and reconstructing, learned at home, continues to allow his work to read as pure explorations of form, texture and material. He uses torn paper drawings and paintings to create brilliant and complex images.
Improvisation is at the heart of this practice. In the quilt-like No. 2016-008, the dense surface builds from variegated, collaged and layered elements where he employs charcoal, chalk pastel, oil pastel, acrylic, oil sticks, glitter, and Interference colors. There is an underlying rhythmic structure, but he is intent upon the use of materials, technique, pattern, and the sound. The result is spiritually evocative work. In a cosmic close up, the forms in No. 2019-018 emerge from, or retreat into, infinite spheres—they are at once floating and fixed. The opalescent color changes with the angle of viewing. A discrete sequence of numbers differentiates one painting from another. Spheres became central to his work in 2016. The placement of spheres in his densely populated collages is strategic; in some, he allows a resting place where the eyes settle from energy surrounding the clear space in the middle.
“UNTITLED NO. 2013-027” by Lamerol Gatewood
32.5″ x 29″ | Pastel- Acrylic- Oil Stick on Paper
Gatewood is the recipient of a number of awards, such as from the Joan Mitchell Foundation. His work is in the collections of the St. Louis Art Museum, The James Lewis Museum at Morgan State College, the New Jersey State Museum at Trenton, the Howard University Gallery of Art, the African American Museum in Philadelphia and of Cleveland, Ohio.
Kenkeleba programs are funded in part by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and many generous friends.
START COLLECTING ART
Browse and shop for fine art from our growing network of artists, collectors, estates, galleries — specializing in works by Black American artists with great values on premier art.
Sign up page for our free virtual collectors course — Here
Thank you new and recurring monthly Patrons
Deloris and Eddie Young, Esther Silver-Parker, Eugene Foney, Zadig & Voltaire, Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art, John and Melanie Guess, Frank Frazier, Houston Museum of African American Culture, Leslie Fields, Jim Nixon, Dr. Michael Butler, Mary “Madea” Jones, Patrick Stewart, Noreen Winningham, Reg Pugh, Kevin Smokler, Deborah R. Moore, Dr. Skyller Walkes, Jae M, Jocelyne Lamour, Marion Zweig, Shannon DeVaney, Ashlee Jacob, DaNia Childress, Rev. Anita Marshall, Mary Ali-Masai, Devera Redmond, Roslyn Valentine, Robin King, Brenda Larnell, Michael, Jeffery Washington, Tricia Konan, Debra L Lacy CHARLES BIBBS, Fredric Isler, Silvia Peters, Harold Moore, Shurvon Haynes K.Coleman Shannon Dale Davis Terese L Hawkins M. Rasheed Jamal Love Annette, Mason Archie, Manuelita Brown, Carolyn L. Mazloomi Gale Ross KL Martin michael jacobs Virginia Joy Simmons Christ Van Loan Sr. Cecilia Winters-Morris, Rosie Gordon-Wallace, Pearlie Taylor, Danny Jenkins, Sara, Lloyd Goode, Marina Kovic, Sarah Rooney, Mitchell Shohet, Nicole Farley, Cheryl B Blankman, Jocelyn Greene, Laura Di Piazza Petrina Burkard Hannah Diener Sarah Drury Claire Sig Mina Silva Whitney, Sara Friesen, Megan LaCroix, Kellyn Maguire, Sophia Bellin,o Cory Huff, Wilhelmina Barker, Linda Eaddy, Shelley Danzy, Rosalyn D. Elder, Sonia Spencer Karen Pinzolo Desiree Dansan, Deborah Paige-Jackson, ALKEBU LAN IMAGES Bookstore DeLores M Dyer, Shelia, Harry F Banks, Susan Ross, Dr. Diane R. Miles, Carlton Cotton, Andre Mitchell, Joan L. Ward, JOCELYN BENITA SMITH, Paul Robinson, Janice Orr, Patricia D Dungy, Ethnie Weekes, Shawn Rhea, Duke Windsor, Runez M Bender, Karen Y House, M Belinda Tucker, Dr. Yonette Thomas, Diana Shannon Young, Judith Hamilton, Julia Turner Lowe, Francene Greene, Caryliss R. Weaver, Sharmon Jane Hilfinger, Bill and Deborah Nix, joyce a, Wanda Baker-Smith, Timothy Gandley, Anneke Schwob, Emily M, Rachael horner, Morris Howard, Marie L Johnson, Ayoka Chenzira, Jean Gumpper, Caitlin Charles, Becca H,. Dr. Darlene White, Dr. Sandra Boyce Broomes, Michele C. Mayes, Rita Crittenden, Reginald Laurent, Jea Delsarte, Brenda Brooks, Suzette Renwick, BEVERLY GRANT, Linda B. Smith, Judith Bergeron, Emily Hegeman Cavanagh, Teri L Lewis, Cooky Goldblatt, Danni Cerezo, Hollis Turner, cdixon06, Freda Davis, Sarah Caputo, jacki rust, Curtis Morrow, Christina Levine, Jessica Beckstrom, Kim Walker, Pamela Hart, Ted Ellis, Louise berner-holmberg, Carla Sonheim, Nicole Bruce, Alison Deas, Monikapi, Ashley Littlefield, Reginald Browne Bill Cook, SylviaWong Lewis, DONNA PAXTON, Kanika Marshall, Cheyenne, Nancy Maignan, Kimberly Smith, Tracy Russ, Gwen Meharg, K Joy Peters, johnnie mae maberry, Lester Marks, Zishan Evans, Anne king, Dianna A. Harris, Arbrie Griffin Bradley, Sandra Sautner, Barbara Brown, Bronwen Hodgkinson, Sonia Deane, January Hoskin, Quinton Foreman, Key Mosley, Jim Alexander, Terri Pease, Annette Groschke, Richard MacMillan, D T Ray, Camille, Elayne Gross, Ann Tankersley, Samori Augusto, Karen M Hirsch, Jeanne H Chaney, Jacqueline Konan, Jerome Moore, Patricia Andrews-Keenan, India Still, Luna Cascade, Amy Peck, Marnese Barksdale, Elder Bridgette, René McCullough, Kevin and Tracy Burton, Raven Burnes, Kim Dubois, Edwina King Diva E, Charlotte Bender, Phyllis Stephens, Alisa R Elliot, Ebony English, Otto Neals, Michael Nix, Terri Bowles, Nelly Maynard, Leslie Smith, Bernard W. Kinsey, Toby Sisson, Raynard Hall, Milton Loupe, Wren Mckinley, Arturo Lindsay, Lindiwe Stovall Lester, Phil, Ricki Carroll, Sherman E Jackson Jr, Janine P Rouson, Raynard Hall, Vickie Townsend-Carter, Peter Prinz, PB Fine Art Appraisal, Alison Woods, Suzette Davis, Carlton Cotton, Art Now After Hours, Diane E Leifheit, Tamara clements, lisa tomlinson, vince leal, Deborah BarnwellGarr, Sonia Pollard, Barbara Hayes, Loretta Y Blakely, Gregg Y, Paige Jernigan, Randy McAnulty, raven walthor, Will Johnson, jack, Shameika Ingram, Trina Virginia Brooks, Black Wall Street Gallery, Suzanne Roberts, Faye Edwards, Tara, Crystal Green, Sedonia Phillips Kniskern, R Simpson, Kate Gadd, Judy Nyquist, Velma McLaurin-Bell, Frazier and Myra O’Leary, Rosemarie Rogers, Elaine Buchsbaum, Hope Elliott, Renee Williams Jefferson, and Atiya Slaughter, Stephanie Stephens, Takisia Whites, Robert Taylor, Christina, Taylor Jackson, Brenda Joyner, Dr. Karen Patricia Williams, Paul Daniel Curtis, Zawadi, and DJIBRIL N’DOYE
We Appreciate your Patronage
