Tales from The b.a.SKET: Black Art Sketches for the Contemporary Art Lover
By D. Amari Jackson
This week, we reach into the b.a.SKET and pull out the piece, Wind, by the late, great Sam Gilliam…
“Look for me in a whirlwind or a storm! Look for me all around you! For with God’s grace, I shall come back with countless millions of Black men and women who have died in America, those who have died in the West Indies, and those who have died in Africa, to aid you in the fight for liberty, freedom and life!”
—Marcus Garvey, Freedom speech, 1924
It seemed the wind was ever at his back. Renowned artist, Sam Gilliam, who joined the ancestors on June 25, moved through life with purpose, making artistic statements, inspiring other artists, and forging an unprecedented legacy in paint. A student of the Washington, D.C. Color School of the mid-20th century, Gilliam was primarily known as an abstract expressionist who incorporated such noted improvisational techniques as his pouring of vivid pigment on to an unstretched, draped canvas to produce abstraction in three dimensions.
Though much of his work was abstract—bearing subliminal messages, like the whisper of the wind—Gilliam’s artistic legacy is tangible. He inspired, mentored, and trained countless young and emerging artists as an art teacher with the Washington public school system, the Corcoran School of Art, the Maryland Art Institute in Baltimore, the University of Maryland, and Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh. The recipient of numerous awards, Gilliam won four National Endowment for the Arts Activities Grants between 1967 and 1989 along with a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship in 1971 that enabled him to paint full-time. As an abstract painter, he made his mark on a field dominated by white men and, consistently, in 1972, Gilliam made international news by becoming the first Black artist to show at the U.S. Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.
While Gilliam was known to downplay issues of race and their perceived relevance to his art, his art and actions sometimes told a different story. In 1968, upon the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Gilliam produced a series of abstract works named after, though not directly referencing, the late civil rights icon. In 1971, he boycotted an event at the Whitney Museum in New York in solidarity with the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition to protest the museum’s failure to consult Black art experts in producing the show. Additional works by Gilliam reference race or other prominent Black figures in their titles including his 1975 Three Panels for Mr. Robeson, an apparent tribute to the brilliant Black performer-activist persecuted by the American government for his political beliefs; and his 1968-1974 project originally titled Dark as I Am, an assumed reference to his own race and some of the painting’s contents.
“Being black is a very important point of tension and self-discovery,” Gilliam told ARTnews, in 1973. “To have a sense of self-acceptance we blacks have to throw off this dichotomy that has been forced on us by the white experience. For some there is a need to do this frontally and objectively. There are some who believe there is no threat. I think there is a need to live universally.”
With the presentation of his 2005 painting, Wind, Black Art In America proudly celebrates the lifework of the universal and incomparable Sam Gilliam. We will continue to look for Gilliam in the whirlwind while keeping his legacy close and honoring his important role in our collective fight for liberty, freedom and life.
“Wind” by Sam Gilliam
15 1/8 × 21 7/8 inches color screen print with collage on Rives BFK paper, limited edition #38/150, (2005) — unframed
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.
START COLLECTING ART
Sign up for our free email course on how to begin your collection.
Amari Jackson is a creator, author, TV/web/film producer, and award-winning journalist. He is author of the 2011 novel, The Savion Sequence; creator/writer/coproducer of the 2012-2014 web series The Book Look; writer/coproducer of the 2016 film Edge of the Pier; and current writer/coproducer of Listen Up! on HBCU GO/Roku TV. He is a former Chief of Staff for a NJ State Senator; a former VP of Communications & Development for the Jamestown Project at Harvard University; and a recipient of several writing fellowships including the George Washington Williams Fellowship from the Independent Press Association. An active ghost writer, song writer, martial artist, and journalist, his writings have appeared in a wide variety of national and regional publications.
Would you buy stock in BAIA if you could? Well we invite you to join us in becoming a monthly supporter, starting at just $3 a month YOU become a stakeholder and begin to help us transform lives through art. We are growing the BAIA team and will use your contributions to hire more team members for the purpose of creating more educational and marketing resources for schools and universities about african american artists both past and present. Such art initiatives and educational programming like Blacklite with Steve Prince, Relating to Art with Dr. Kelli Morgan, and BAIA BITS would not be possible without the ongoing support of our Patreon members. Please consider becoming a monthly Patreon member today!
Review our list of rewards for becoming a BAIA Patreon / patron supporter. Your monthly contribution has lasting benefits. — “What will your legacy be” – Dr. Margaret Burroughs
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, Carolyn L. Mazloomi,Terry Whitt Bailey, Brenda k robinson, Greg Head, Deborah J Jackson, Deborah Griffin, Kimberly Wilson-Lawson, Gail Rogers, Natalie F Lawrence, Yvonne R Carter, Gillian Crocca Photography, Eliesha Nelson, Gracie M Jamiah, Lyndale Pettus,Rev. Anita Marshall, E L Greene, Devon Simpson, Sylvie Meyers, Edward Johnson, Jimmy S. Clark, Jr., Robert & Susan King, Jacqueline Boggan, Nanno Smith, Dindga McCannon, Jenae Gayle, Donald M Rubin, Maya, Jessica Bickett, Jewell T. Williams, Derek Nichols, Diana Mbr, Shavaughn Buckley, Jalisa Whitley, Kassi De Luna, Eric T McKissack, Tsedey Betru, Cheryl, Polk, Victor W Brown, Alnita Ann Holder, Sharon Butts, Gregory M Glore, Tanya Desdunes, Vernestine Laughinghouse, Arelia Jones, Shakira Pollard, Kimberly Esmond Adams, Patric McCoy, Bridget Griffin, Rayhart, Mikal Aziz, Patricia Goodwin, Rebecca Smith, Rita Alston, Chris McNew, Sharyn Welch, Eunice Sykes, Paula DeJoie, Patricia S. Kearse, Cyderia Gates, Anita Askew Wharton, LaShanda Chirunga, Kree8tive DJ, Cynthia Hargrove, S Johnson, Darris L Shaw, Willa Bandler, Valerie A. Cooper, Paige Jernigan, Monique Johnson, Djibril N’Doye, Zawadi, Paul Daniel Curtis, Dr. Karen Patricia Williamsm, Brenda Joyner, Christina, Robert Taylor, Takisia Whites, Stephanie Stephens, Atiya Slaughter, Renee Williams Jefferson, Hope Elliott, Elaine Buchsbaum, Rosemarie Rogers, Frazier and Myra O’Leary, Velma McLaurin-Bell, Judy Nyquist, Kate Gadd, R Simpson, Crystal Green, Denise Rogers, Tara, Faye Edwards, Trina Virginia Brooks, jack, Beverly S Ware, Raven Walthor, Paige Jernigan, Gregg Y., Loretta Y Blakely, Barbara Hayes, Sonia Pollard, Vince Leal, Lisa Tomlinson, Diane E Leifheit, Art Now After Hours, Suzette Davis, Alison Woods, PB Fine Art Appraisal, Peter Prinz, Vickie Townsend-Carter, Lindiwe Stovall Lester, Arturo Lindsay, Raynard Hall, Toby Sisson, Bernard W. Kinsey, Leslie Smith, Nelly Maynard, Terri Bowles, Otto Neals, Ted Ellis, Bill Cook, SylviaWong Lewis, Donna Paxon, Nancy Maignan, Kimberly Smith, Tracy Russ, Gwen Meharg, Johnnie Mae Maberry, Zishan Evans, Arbrie Griffin Bradley, Sandra Sautner, Barbara Brown, Bronwen Hodgkinson, Sonia Deane, January Hoskin, Quinton Foreman, Terri Pease, Annette Grrr, Elayne Gross, Ann Tankersley, Jacqueline Konan, Jerome Moore, India Still, Kim Dubois, Edwina King Diva E, Charlotte Bender, Phyllis Stephens, Judith Hamilton, Francene Greene, Caryliss R. Weaver, Sharmon Jane Hilfinger, Bill and Deborah Nix, Joyce A, Wanda Baker-Smith, Emily Jean, C Harris, Morris Howard, Marie L Johnson, Ayoka Chenzira, Jean Gumpper, Dr. Darlene White, Dr. Sandra Boyce Broomes, Michele C. Mayes, Rita Crittenden, Beverly Grant, Linda B. Smith, Judith Bergeron, Emily Hegeman Cavanagh, Teri L, Claudia Bell, Cooky Goldblatt, Danni Cerezo, Sarah Caputo, Christina Levine, Jessica Beckstrom, Pamela Hart, Tellis, Louise Berner-Holmberg, Carla Sonheim, Alison Deas, Monikapi, Ashley Littlefield, Pearlie Taylor, Marina Kovic, Sarah Rooney, Mitchell Shohet, Cheryl B Blankman, Petrina Burkard, Sarah Drury, Megan LaCroix, Kellyn Maguire, Sophia Bellino, Cory Huff, Wilhelmina Barker, Shelley Danzy, Rosalyn D. Elder, Karen Pinzolo, Desiree Dansan, Deborah Paige-Jackson, ALKEBU LAN IMAGES Bookstore, DeLores M Dyer, Shelia, Susan Ross, Carlton Cotton, Joan L. Ward, Jocelyn Benita Smith, Paul Robinson, Janice Orr, Patricia D Dungy, Shawn Rhea, Cheryl Odeleye, Runez M Bender, Karen Y House, M Belinda Tucker, Dr. Yonette Thomas, Diana Shannon Young, Harold Moore, Shurvon Haynes, K.Coleman, Dana Todd Pope, M. Rasheed, Jamal Love, Annette, Manuelita Brown, Gale Ross, KL Martin, Patricia D Dungy, Patricia A Thomas, Carolyn J Grantham, Lyla Correoso_thomas, Judith Braggs, Cheryl Odeleye, Jean ODonnell, Saundra Woods, D. Amari Jackson, Aisha J. Thomas, Lisa Brathwaite, Marcia T Gibson, Kathryn Anderson Weaver, Deadybones, Genevieve Marsh, Rene Lee
We Appreciate Your Support
