Transformations: A Visual Ode to Black History in America

Tranformations: A Visual Ode to Black History In America

@ Fairleigh Dickinson University Library (Florham Campus), Running All February 2010 | Artist Statement

Art Details	Description	Full Image (click to enlarge)	Detail (click to enlarge)
AA Montage #1 48 x 96 1/1 canvas wall hanging Price Available View Key to Figures	The 20 figures in this work are from all walks of life and span 150 years of American history. Try to find them all on your own or give up and read the key. At 8 feet across this has a lot of details to reveal.
Fred Mine 36 x 48 1/1 print on canvas brown wraps on sides Price Available	I was playing with the words "Free Mind" when it occured to swap the last two letters. While I've not heard Frederick Douglass refererred to as Fred before, I feel I've earned the right by creating and arranging over 200 portraits of him, no two the same. In this sense, it is "mine" and it's also a "mine" of FD's to be dug into.
Harriet Tubman 30 x 24 1/1 print on canvas gray wraps on sides Price Available	Harriet Tubman was an American hero. Hers was a difficult and arduous path, but one she approached with rare courage and self-sacrifice. Too bad she couldn't meet President Obama.
Jesse Owens Represents 24 x 24 1/1 print on canvas gold leaf applied as laurels red, white and blue wraps on sides Price Available	I think of this as iconic ironic. Iconic, because it forshadows our two vanquished combatants, Germany (right) and Japan (left) of WW2. Ironic, because it's an African American representing the US which in the 1968 Olympics, 32 years later, morphed into the famous Black Power fist pump on the medal stand instead of the Reichian heil.
Crosstown Traffic Cop 30 x 24 1/1 print on canvas thick acrylic applied gray wraps on sides Price Available	New York is the Mecca of racial mashups and African Americans weave lots of crucial threads into that tapestry. In this swirl of traffic, safety orange and glove white are the only colors that matter.
Ms. Baker 36 x 24 1/1 print on canvas glass beads applied liberally ochre wraps on sides Price Available	Josephine Baker had a smile that could light up any town. She was the first in a long line of international female stars of African descent. The adopted daughter of former slaves, she was a self-made woman and overcame so much. Too bad she had to move to Europe to be appreciated.
Kind of Bluish 36 x 24 1/1 print on canvas blue wraps on sides Price Available	I couldn't resist putting this into a library. I don't think Miles Davis is saying "shhhh." It's more like he's blowing a super cool kiss or pondering his own mysterious nature (or yours).
Green Michelle 24 x 24 1/1 print on canvas green wraps on sides Price Available	There are so many portraits of Barack Obama out there, I thought it best to include the strong woman who's been at his side. I made it green in honor of her efforts to make our human world a little more harmonious with Nature.
Morton on a Jelly Roll 24 x 36 1/1 print on canvas acrylics applied on top gray wraps on sides Price Available	Jelly Roll Morton was a great musician of the early-20th century. He's one of the inventors of jazz as we know it. He doesn't deserve to be twisted around like this but such is the way of improv.
Oprah Sees 48 x 48 1/1 print on canvas stripes wraps on sides Price Available	There is an all-seeing, all-knowing aspect to this which fits well with the myth of Oprah, another self-made African-American woman who overcame much and wields tremendous influence...a King maker.
Pharoah Fashizzle 24 x 24 1/1 print on canvas acrylic applied liberally gray wraps on sides Price Available	While messing with variations of Snoop, I stumbled on this one that had a sort of Egyptian twist to it...or maybe a cobra poised to strike with a chronic rhyme.
Ya Dang Skippy 48 x 48 1/1 print on canvas heavy peanut butter sienna acrylic touches sienna wraps on sides Price Available	George Washington Carver was born a slave, but his mind was as free as they get. He spent much effort on finding alternative crops to cotton which led to experiments with peanuts and many interesting results, including peanut butter.
Masks 30 x 24 1/1 print on canvas quilted surface stripes wrap on sides Price Available	These are not really American masks in any way. But they are African so they half belong in this exhibit. You can't see the fabric quilting that are in the final work.