A Painter's Painter: Richard Lewis

video provided by Kresge Artist Fellowships

Richard Lewis produces some of the most prolific paintings today, yet he is still an obscure artist outside of Detroit. How does this happen?

This brother is crazy dope. Lewis shows us an artist who has total freedom through the material of paint. The interwoven layers of color and texture deliver powerful abstract moments up close. He should be known and seen everywhere, a museum show is well overdue.

Lewis' paintings allow viewers to peer into the intimate space of daily life. We get to see cousins, sisters, friends, musicians and many others who are simply living. It is a stark contrast to the stereotypes shown by the media, of what they assume is going on in these private spaces of Black life. In his work he provides a place for Black figures to exist, without the world placing racial implications upon them. This was Richard's revolution to the art world as he went through the Studio Museum in Harlem's artist-in-residence program in 1995.

Mingus, 2004, Oil on canvas

James and Kelly, 1996, Oil on canvas

Detail of a self portrait piece

So how can someone who is undoubtedly a great contemporary painter not be recognized nationally as such? Maybe because figuration is just now coming back into the limelight? I’m not really sure but it is definitely his time to show everyone what a devotion to painting looks like.

Tracey, 2011, Oil on canvas

I mean come on, this dude was at the Studio Museum In Harlem with Chakaia Booker and Michael Richards. Just look at the paint for yourself and tell me you don't want to see this stuff up close.

To learn more about Richard and his work click on the link below:

Kresge Arts

Peace until next time,

Mario

The Work of Mark Thomas Gibson

Storytelling is something that human beings love to do. It is the way we carry history forward, it is how we described champions and victories of the past before the written word. So what new stories can we possibly tell now when it seems like every story has been told? Well like one of my favorite rappers Nas says, “No idea's original, there's nothing new under the sun. It's never what you do, but how it's done”.

There’s one painter that is showing us how it’s done when it comes to telling old stories with new insight and his name is Mark Thomas Gibson. Gibson was born in Miami in 1980. He attended Yale School of Art and earned his MFA in 2013. This brother understands how to fully embrace mythology while exploring American history and comics in order to highlight the role painting can play in laying out an epic story.

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Captured and Cursed, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 in, courtesy of Fredericks & Freiser, NY

I am not one to go all academic crazy and fully explain people’s work when it comes to the visual world but when it comes to THIS work, it is actually pretty exciting. So I will give you some nuggets of insight into Gibson’s art practice and allow the work to do the rest of the talking. Gibson uses the language of comics and mythology to show us a history, uncensored. He addresses the Colonization of America through the problematic concept of "Manifest Destiny" by exploring the slave trade in America, the destruction of the lives of Native Americans and the first pilgrims to arrive in North America.

"Manifest Destiny" is a concept that can be seen throughout Gibson's exhibition Some Monsters Loom Large. Now for those of you who may not know the full extent of “Manifest Destiny”, the term was first used by John L. O’Sullivan in an article published in 1845 of the United States Magazine and Democratic Review. The term defined a belief in the United States that it's colonizers were destined to expand across America. In Mark Gibson’s paintings, “Manifest Destiny” becomes a curse and evil spirit that infects all that come into contact with it, transforming them into wolf-men like the leading character.

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So Slips the Knot, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 in, courtesy of Fredericks & Freiser, NY

What describes white privilege more than Anglo-Saxon Americans’ belief that it was their right and mission to expand West across North America and claim everything as their own? There are a few things that could compete but for a quick glimpse of these "Americans" taking up the philosophy of "Manifest Destiny" you can take a look at the Hollywood blockbuster, The Revenant. The backdrop of the film is about access to the fur trade for anyone who was “brave” enough to venture into unknown territory.

Fur was a way to make some serious dough during the territorial expansion of the United States. Gibson uses the fur of the wolf-man to lead us through this elaborate world he has created. Now, one of the greatest things about Gibson's work is that you don't need any of this history to enjoy it. Through bright colors and a serious handling of paint, his work can stand alone.

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Vacated, 2016, Acrylic on canvas, 60 x 40 in, courtesy of Fredericks & Freiser, NY

So why did I spend all that time telling you that historical information? Because many other creators have used historical references to tell their new tales. Like George Lucas using the bible as part of the inspiration for the creation of Star Wars or Stan Lee using the civil rights movement to create the X-men and base Professor X and Magneto off of Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X, Mark Thomas Gibson uses American history to take us on a mythological journey never seen before.

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Some Monsters Loom LARGE

Make sure you catch his show Some Monsters Loom Large at Fredericks & Frieser before it closes this Saturday, April 23rd. Check out his website Mark Gibson and if you want more information on "Manifest Destiny" take a look at History.com.

Peace until next time,

Mario

Three Artists that you need to know now

The inner workings of the art world and the politics of who gets seen can leave some really talented artists hidden. Don't get me wrong the artists that I am about to introduce to you have shown in museums, galleries and art institutions but they are relatively known in certain circles and deserve a much larger audience. So here are three artists that everyone needs to know now:

1. Tiff Massey  

Hidale Street, Tiff Massey

I Do I Do I Doooo, Tiff Massey

Tiff Massey is a mixed-media artist from Detroit, Michigan, currently represented by Library Street Collective. Massey holds an MFA in metalsmithing from Cranbrook Academy of Art, and a BS in Biology from Eastern Michigan University. Her work, inspired by African standards of economic vitality, includes both large-scale and wearable sculptures. Massey counts the iconic material culture of 1980's hip-hop as a major influence in her jewelry. She uses contemporary observances of class and race through the lens of an African diaspora, combined with material drawn from her experience in Detroit. She is a 2015 Kresge Visual Arts Fellowship awardee as well as a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s Knight Arts Challenge winner, and was recently recognized as a Michigan Chronicle 40 Under 40 award recipient.

To find out more about her work, where it's been and why it's so dope check out her site: Tiff Massey

2. Charles Williams

Lost and Found #3, Charles Williams, Oil on canvas

Lost and Found #1, Charles Williams, Oil on canvas

Charles WIlliams

Charles Williams is a professional contemporary realist painter from Georgetown, South Carolina and a graduate of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Savannah, Georgia with a Bachelors Degree in Fine Art. From utilizing oils for the basis of landscapes, each painting captures his reflection of human emotions in response to and in sync with the natural environment. Recent achievements and awards include a Hudson River Landscape Fellowship, featured work in the Artists Magazines 28th Annual Art Competition, honorable mention from Southwest Art Magazines 21 Emerging Under 31 competition, 2012 Winner of the Fine Art Category from Creative Quarterly.His contemporary landscapes have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in galleries in New York, Vermont, California, Georgia, South Carolina and several other southeastern states. His contemporary landscapes have been exhibited in group and solo exhibitions in galleries in New York, Vermont, California, Georgia, South Carolina and several other southeastern states.

To see more of his work check out his website: Charles Williams. His pieces that are based off of things we fear--like drowning--some which are featured here, are killer.

3. Lucia Hierro

Cache/Cachet, Lucia Hierro, Digital Print on Fabric/Felt/Mixed Fabrics

New Yorker Collage Series, Lucia Hierro, New Yorker magazine mixed media

On that grind/Dyckman: La casa de mami, Lucia Hierro,  Digital Print on Fabric/Felt/Mixed Fabrics   

Lucia Hierro's work explores the body as a collection of fragmented signifiers that includes language, taste, and culture.  Hierro addresses these ideas across a broad platform of techniques that include digital media, collage, and felt painting constructions.  As a Dominican American artist, Lucia Hierro's status as a bi-lingual female artist requires that she work across multiple media in much the same way she works across gender and culture on a daily basis. The use of The New Yorker in Hierro's work has been a way to tackle ideas of exclusion and privileged knowledge. Lucia received a BFA from SUNY Purchase (2010) and an MFA from Yale School of Art (2013). She was an artist in residence at Yaddo, the Bronx Museums Artist in the Market program and will be part of the FountainHead Residency in 2016. Lucia Hierro will be showing work at the NADA Fair NY at the Samson Gallery Booth May 5th - 8th. 

Trust me when I say these works have to be seen in person. But until you are standing in front of her witty, dopetastic work, make sure you keep up with her busy schedule and visit her website: Lucia Hierro

Peace until next time,

Mario