This project (Black Male Artist Professor Series) aims to raise awareness of Black men who have contributed to the art world as visual artists and college professors and offers an educational opportunity to the global art and art education community.
About the Series:
The Black Male Artist Professor Series - aims to showcase and celebrate the accomplishments of Black male visual artists/art education professors (must be both) who have made significant contributions to the art world or art education and have taught or are currently teaching in visual art and/or art education programs at historically White colleges and universities in the United States. The series will feature paintings inspired by the Fauvist style. They are created using acrylic paints and include symbolic references associated with each subject. To maintain consistency, every painting will be of a standard size of 36" x 48", while unique techniques will be employed to represent each subject. The series will comprise of 20 to 25 or more paintings.
From September 2023 to January 2025, I have painted ten 36" x 48" Fauvist-inspiredportraits in the series: Ligel Lambert, Sanford Biggers, Dr. James Rolling, Jr., Kerry James Marshall, Didier William, Jacob Lawrence, Robert Reed, William T. Williams, Meleko Mokgosi and Derrick Adams.
The list below features more than 25 Black male artists/professors because the series may be extended as this series develops.
Richard Mayhew, Aaron Douglas, Charles White, Stanley Whitney, Imo Nse Imeh, Rudy Shepherd, Mark Thomas Gibson, Odili Donald Odita, Larry Walker, Nick Cave, Lyle Ashton Harris, Noel W. Anderson, Glenn Ligon, Yinka Shonibare, Charly Palmer, David Driskell, Joseph Norman, Stephen Carpenter II, Paul S. Briggs, Charles Henry Alston, Robert Blackburn, Jack Whitten, Norman W. Lewis, Julian T. White, Rodney McMillian, Kevin Cole, Juan Logan, Sharif Bey, Bernard Young, Lee Ransaw, and Louis Jessup Delsarte III.
The Plan
Ligel plans to spend the next year painting 10 to 15 more of the gentlemen listed above in the series and will publish a book commemorating their contributions and impact on our society and how they have shaped visual art and art education. See the image of the book cover design below.
