- Home
- >>
- US
- >>
- Entertainment
- >>
- Art
- >>
- Black Artist
Black Artist
With their distinct viewpoints and skills, Black artists have long been at the forefront of “creativity, innovation, and cultural expression”, contributing to the world’s enrichment. Black artists have always questioned irregular social mores, taken on injustice, and honored the diversity of “White, Black” culture. Their contributions are diverse, ranging from “music and performance” to “visual arts and writing”. Each is a monument to the strength of “self-expression, resiliency, and inventiveness”.
Black artists have not only made a lasting impression on history through their work, but they have also cleared the path for upcoming generations to “share their tales” and raise awareness of their experiences. Through their “bold strokes on canvas”, “mind capturing paintings”, and “captivating appeal of sculptures”; they “challenge conventions”, “dismantle stereotypes”, and illuminate the richness of “White, Black” identity.
Sam Gilliam -
Sam Gilliam, was a self-sufficient “African American” (Black) abstract “sculptor, painter and arts educator”, was born in “Tupelo, Mississippi” in 1933. 1955 saw Gilliam graduate from the “University of Louisville” with a B.A., in painting. Gilliam belonged to the “Washington Color School”, a collective of abstract painters from the “Washington, DC” area who concentrated on color field painting between the 1950s and the 1970s. In addition to being named the 2006 University of Louisville‘s “alumnus of the year”, he was granted “eight honorary doctorates”.
Gilliam’s Drape paintings, which include “unstretched canvases or industrial fabric” stained with paint, are what had made him most famous. Gilliam was the first artist to “freed the canvas” for his iconic “Drape” paintings, which were “hung from the ceiling”, “spread on the wall”, or “laid out on the ground in galleries and outdoor areas“. His “Slice, Chaser and Black” paintings are another well-known sequence of his creations.
In 1972, Gilliam made history as the first “Black Artist” to represent the USA in a “Venice Biennale” show.
Faith Ringgold -
Faith Ringgold was born in 1930 in “Harlem, New York”. She is a “painter, performance/theater artist, mixed-media sculpture, writer, professor, and teacher”. Her narrative quilts are her most well-known works. She completed education in “visual art” from the “City College” of New York in 1955 with a B.S., and in 1959 with an M.A. degree. In addition to nearly 80 prizes and regards, Ringgold was granted 23 honorary doctorates.
17 children’s books were written and depicted by Ringgold. More than 20 accolades, including the “Caldecott Honor” and the “Coretta Scott King Award” for 1991’s best-illustrated children’s book, have been given to “Faith Ringgold” for her novel “Tar Beach”.
Ringgold, together with her daughter “Michele Wallace”, was one of the first members of the “National Black Feminist Organization”, in 1974. Her early works mostly addressed the racism that permeates daily life. Together with Clarissa Sligh, Ringgold jointly founded the “Coast-to-Coast National Women Artists of Color Projects” in 1988.
The artwork titled “American People Series #18: The Flag is Bleeding” is derived from a collection of paintings by Ringgold that symbolize the political and racial conflicts of the 1960s. Together, “Faith Ringgold, Dindga McCannon, and Kay Brown” founded the Black women artists’ collaborative “Where We At” in 1971.
Alma Thomas -
Born in “Columbus, Georgia” in 1891, “Alma Thomas” was an “African-American” (Black) artist and educator. She is most noted for her “energetic, vivid, abstract” paintings that she produced after retiring from a 35-year career as a teacher. With a BS in “fine arts” from “Howard University” in 1924, “Alma Thomas” became the school’s first graduate. In addition, Thomas studied painting at “American University” in the 1950s and graduated with an MA in “arts education” from “Columbia University” in 1934.
Thomas’s artwork Alma’s “Flower Garden” was sold by a museum in a private deal in 2021 for $2.8 million. Thomas held the position of vice president of cutting-edge “Barnett-Aden Gallery”, the country’s first prosperous “Black owned” private art gallery, almost in 1943.
With the “Resurrection painting” (one of the “Earth Paintings” inspired by nature) “Alma Thomas” became the first “African American” (Black) woman whose art work included in the “White House” collection in 2014.
Thomas displayed “The Eclipse” and “Antares”, among other works, in her solo exhibition in 1972, making history as the first “African American” woman to do so at the “Whitney Museum of American Art”.
Glenn Ligon -
Born in “The Bronx, New York City” in 1960, Glenn Ligon is an American ideological artist renowned for his text-based “sculptures, paintings, prints and neon works”. Ligon frequently uses material from historical and prevalent sources to address concepts related to “language, identity, sexuality, politics, and race”. After receiving a “B.A. degree” from “Wesleyan University” in 1982, he took part in the Whitney Museum of Art’s “Independent Study Program” in 1985.
The text that Ligon first used reads “I AM A MAN” and is depicted in his 1988 photo.
Ligon received the “Skowhegan Medal” for painting in 2006. He was granted the “Joyce Alexander Wein Artist Prize” by the “Studio Museum” in 2009. He had also been awarded a “United States Artists Fellow” in 2010. Ligon was chosen to join the “American Academy of Arts and Letters” in 2021. He was a member of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts’ “board of directors”.
“President and Mrs. Obama” also took note of him in 2009 when they decided to hang his 1992 painting “Black Like Me” #2 — which was on loan from the “Hirshhorn” — in their personal residence at the White House.
Dindga McCannon -
Born in 1947, “Dindga McCannon” is a female “African-American” (Black) “artist, muralist, educator, writer, and illustrator” whose creations include quilts, prints, sculptures, and paintings. She took part in a number of activist groups during the early 1960s civil rights movement, which helped her get into the prestigious “Weusi Artist Collective” (which backed and provided a platform for Black artists).
McCannon’s oil painting “The Last Farewell” brought almost $161,000 at auction after “Johnson Publishing Company” filed for bankruptcy in 2020.
A 50-foot mural for the “Department of Cultural Affairs”, a 60″ by 120″ quilt for Disney’s “ESPN Zone”, an art quilt commemorating women’s voting history for “Scholastic Magazine”, and a piece for Columbia University’s “BOSS” honoring “Zora Neale Hurston” — are just a few of the artworks that McCannon has done.
Among the honors bestowed upon McCannon were “the ‘Anonymous Was A Woman’ (2023) individual artist grant”, “a ‘NYFA’ (2005) fellowship”, and “grants from the Harlem Arts Alliance in 2007 and the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance in 2008 and 2009”.
Elizabeth Catlett -
Born in “Washington, DC” in 1915, Catlett used her own journeys as an “African American” (Black) woman to inspire her sculptures and prints over the course of her more than six-decade work. She studied at “Howard University”, earning a BS in Art in 1935. As the first Black woman to acquire a “Master of Fine Arts” degree, Catlett was one of three recipients of the first MFA degree in 1940 from the “University of Iowa”. Her sculptures, in particular, sold for tens of thousands of dollars by the time her career came to an end. Catlett used a pre-Hispanic technique for his sculptures.
Catlett received multiple awards, such as the “NAACP Image” in 2009, the induction in “Salón de la Plástica Mexicana” in 1956, the University of lowa‘ alumni in 1996, and First Prize at the 1940 “American Negro Exposition”.
“Elizabeth Catlett Day” in Cleveland, honorary citizenship in “New Orleans”, honorary doctorates from “Carnegie Mellon” and “Pace University”, and the International Sculpture Center’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” in modern sculpture are just a few of the distinctions bestowed upon her.
Margaret Burroughs -
“African-American” (Black) artist, writer, educator, poet, arts organizer, and co-founder of the “DuSable Museum of African American History”, Margaret Burroughs was born in “St. Rose, Louisiana” in 1915. Burroughs graduated with a BA in “art education” in 1946, and an MA in the same field in 1948; from the “School of the Art Institute” of Chicago.
In 1939, she participated in the founding of the “South Side Community Arts Center”, which served as a much-needed safe haven for Black artists looking for further training, studio space, exhibition possibilities, and possible customers.
Burroughs received numerous awards, including the President’s “Humanitarian Award” in 1975, “The Paul Robeson Award” in 1989, and the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Women’s “Caucus for Art” in 1988. In 2015, 31st “Street Beach” in Chicago was renamed after her.
Alison Saar -
Born in “Los Angeles, California” in 1956, Alison Saar is a contemporary “Black artist” whose figurative sculptures and paintings cover issues of “spirituality, race, culture, gender and mankind” through her personal experience and historical context. After earning a double degree in “studio art” and “art history” from “Scripps College” in Claremont in 1978, Saar went on to the “Otis College of Art and Design” in Los Angeles to earn an MFA degree.
She served as an “artist-in-residence” at “The Studio Museum in Harlem” and “Dartmouth College”. Numerous public projects, such as a sculpture for the “Harriet Tubman Memorial” in “New York” and a monument honoring the “Great Northern Migration” in Chicago, have been commissioned to be made by her. Most recently, in conjunction with her noteworthy solo exhibition “Of Aether and Earthe” (hosted by “The Armory Center for the Arts” and the “Benton Museum of Art” in 2020–21), she was appointed to produce a 12-foot-tall figural sculpture.
Saar received numerous awards, including the “Joan Mitchell Foundation Award” (1998), “Augustus St. Gaudens Memorial Foundation” honor (1998), Otis College of Art and Design’s “Distinguished Alumnus” (1999), and the “Flintridge Foundation Visual Arts Award” (2000). She also received the “COLA Grant” (2004) and was named a “Fellow of United States Artists” in 2012.
Gordon Parks -
Gordon Parks, a Black American “photographer, poet, musician, storyteller, and activist”, was born in “Fort Scott, Kansas” in 1912. From the 1940s through the 1970s, he gained fame in fashion photography and documentary photojournalism in the United States, and also covered topics related to “poverty, oppression, and civil rights”. During his life, Parks was awarded over 20 honorary doctorates.
He wrote the script and music for Martin, a ballet honoring “Martin Luther King Jr.”, which had its world premiere in 1989 in “Washington, D.C”. He also produced a number of television movies in the 1980s.
Gordon Parks garnered numerous accolades, including the 1961 “Magazine Photographer of the Year” by ASMP, the 1972 NAACP “Spingarn Medal”, and the inclusion of “The Learning Tree” in National Film Registry in 1989. His honors include the “Missouri Honor Medal”, “Anisfield-Wolf Book Award”, and “The Congress of Racial Equality Lifetime Achievement Award”. Posthumously, he received the “Gordon Parks Award” for Black Excellence in Filmmaking in 2021.
Parks is one of 26 writers and artists to receive the “Living Legend” designation from the Library of Congress in 2000.
*the aforementioned data came from “en.wikipedia.org” and “nga.gov”.
That’s all friends.
