Chris Clark (1958-2011)
Chris Clark (1958-2011) was a folk artist who lived in Birmingham, Alabama. Known for his painted, decorated storytelling quilts, furniture, and paintings, he was referred to as the “gospel singer of the visual arts.”
After being laid off from his factory job and being diagnosed with diabetes, Clark learned how to quilt from his grandmother. He started creating art after he thought he was going to lose his eye sight due diabetes. He began selling his artworks at art festivals such as Kentuck Festival of Arts in Northport, Alabama, where he was one of the guests artists.
Kentuck Festival of Arts is known for having some of the top artists of the self-taught, folk art and outsider genre. Some of its past guest artists were Charlie Lucas, Gee’s Bend Quilters, Annie Tolliver, Howard Finster, Sam “The Dot Man” McMillian, and Lonnie Holley.
Clark’s work is in museums and private collections including Mennelo Museum in Orlando, Florida and Birmingham Museum of Art. Clark died at the age of 52 in 2011 from complications of diabetes.
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These posts are sponsored by the Black Art In America Foundation as part of our continuous advocacy for African-American art.
Rick Lowe (1961-)
Rick Lowe (b 1961) is an artist whose art practice includes not only works within the art world but he is also known for developing community art projects. Perhaps, the community art project he is best known for is Project Row Houses located in Houston, Texas.
In 1993, Lowe, along with other Houston African American artists (Jesse Lott, Floyd Newsum, George Smith, James Bettison, Bert Long Jr., and Bert Samples) began looking at how a group of old shotgun houses on a block in a historically significant black neighborhood in Houston could become a resource to help the black community through art but not in a traditional way.
Since its inception, the nationally recognized Project Row Houses has been a catalyst to help provide sustainable opportunities for artists, young mothers, students and businesses in the Houston neighborhood which it is located in.
“My desire to deal with the urgency of politics eventually led to explore the social constructs in what politics is built. While trying to better understand how the social constructs connected with art,” Lowe explained.
He has won many honors for his work such as the 2014 MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University from September 2001- June 2006, Brandywine Lifetime achievement Award in 2009, and many more. Throughout the years, Lowe has been invited to be a guest artist on a number of community projects such as the development of the Watts Project in 1996.
Lowe is a true visionary.
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Jerry Jordan (1966-)
Artist Jerry Jordan (b 1966) is among a growing number of black contemporary artists exploring blackness and its meaning through figurative work.
Based in Madison, Wisconsin, Jordan is influenced by classical academic painters such as John Singer Sargent, Joaquín Sorolla, Henry Ossawa Tanner, and Harlem Renaissance artists such as Aaron Douglas, which is the catalyst for the works he creates.
Jordan views his style of painting as the harmonious union of classical realism and Impressionism. He has primally exhibited in Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois and some of the venues were 2021 “Black Creativity” exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, Gallery Guichard in Chicago, Portrait Society Gallery in Milwaukee, The Overture Center in Madison, and Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.
Besides exhibiting in galleries and museums, Jordan has started doing book illustrations. Currently, he is working on illustrations for Dinah Johnson’s upcoming book “Marching for the Vote: the Story of Ida B. Wells and the Women’s March of 2013” (scheduled to be published sometime in 2023). He will also be illustrating Pat Zietow Miller’s book “Unstoppable John” about Congressman John Lewis which is to be published in 2024 by Viking.
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These posts are sponsored by the Black Art In America Foundation as part of our continuous advocacy for African-American art.
Varnette P. Honeywood (1950-2010)
Born in Los Angeles, California, Varnette P. Honeywood (1950-2010) was a nationally and internationally known artist whose colorful genre paintings and collages celebrated African American life. Her artwork appeared on several television shows, most notably “The Bill Cosby Show.” Other television shows were her work appeared was “A Different World,” “227,” and “Amen.”
A 1972 Spelman College graduate, two years later, Honeywood earned her master’s in art education. Once she completed her masters at the University of Southern California, she worked at the university’s Joint Educational Program which provided programming for school children. She eventually became director of the program.
Images of Honeywood’s artwork became an important cultural staple in many black American homes, when she began reproducing images of her work on note cards and prints in the 1980s. She and her sister Stephanie formed a very successful greeting card company “Black Lifestyles.” It was through their greeting card company that Bill Cosby’s wife Camille discovered Honeywood’s work, which lead to her work to be included in the Cosby’s art collection and featured on “The Bill Cosby Show.”
Like so many black artists, major influences of her work were William H. Johnson, Elizabeth Catlett, Jacob Lawrence, Samella Lewis, and Romare Bearden—all of whom also visually documented and explored the subject of black life in their work. Lewis and Bearden were also early mentors of Honeywood.
In 2010, Honeywood died of cancer and her artwork will be remembered as an important part of the legacy and story of African American art history.
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Allen Stringfellow (1923-2004)
Born in Champaign, Illinois, Allen Stringfellow (1923-2004) worked in several media, but he was mainly known for his vibrant collages. His work depicted scenes of African-American middle class life, particularly religious scenes, black family and jazz, and other themes related to African-American history and culture.
During the depression, he became involved with Chicago’s South Side Community Art Center. The South Side Community Art Center is the oldest African American Art Center in the United States and it was there were he met artist William S. Carter who became one of his inspirations to become an artist. Other artists who inspired Stringfellow were Romare Bearden and Jacob Lawrence.
He was known in Chicago for wearing the color red, which served as a reminder of the colorful lyrical pallets he used in his work. An award-winning artist, Stringfellow’s work has been shown in various galleries and Institutions, including the Art Institution of Chicago, Chicago Historical Society, and the DuSable Museum of African American History.
Artworks of Allen Stringfellow are currently on view at the Karrnert Art Museum (located on the campus of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.) The exhibition “Vibrant Lives: Allen Stringfellow” is on view until August 5, 2022.
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These posts are sponsored by the Black Art In America Foundation as part of our continuous advocacy for African-American art.
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