Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis, Kresge Fellow 2011


This Video is of my great mentor Richard Lewis I find his paintings very inspiring. He gives pertinence to his family and friends in his portraits. They seem to set a very still tone that confronts the viewer in an unannounced portrayal of importance. I truly enjoy searching his canvases for every mark and always find my self surprised with the way the paints sits against another brushstroke or interlocks with another color. His layers of paint create depth that is seen within the paint itself and not the image. One stroke lays on top of the other in such a complex way that it almost seems that each stroke is multiplied just by his skill. A great painter indeed.

check out the link above for the video, it would not let me embed it.

Also I have been slow to update here but there has been a lot that has happened recently. I am a second year officially now at Yale and I have a solo show coming up not to mention a group show at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit. I will post all the information on these shows soon as well as some new paintings I have been working on.

If you don't know now you know!!

Etchings!!!!!!!!!!

Wayde, Etching, 9 x 10.5, 2011

Bomani, Etching, 9 x 9, 2011

Drea sleeping, Etching, 8 x 7, 2011

Side, Etching, 9.5 x 10, 2011

Lucia, drypoint, 7 x 11, 2011

Studio hazard, Etching, 8 x 12.5, 2011

Meena, Etching, 8 x 11, 2011

X, Etching, 15 x 15, 2011

Nontsi, Etching, 14 x 14, 2011

That looks like someone's son to me, Etching, 12.5 x 8, 2012

Portrait, Ecthing, 6 x 6, 2011

These etchings were made during my first year at Yale. The images at the top are more recent, I enjoy etching because there is a graphic visceral quality to the material, the outcome is unknown and the process is meditative. The final result is always unexpected and many times you find that what was in your mind as the initial image has improved through the medium or changed radically.

If you don't know now you know

Some close ups and studio shots to give you some perspective on the sizes of some of the pieces.

More at the end

Getting ready, Oil on canvas, 24 x 30, 2012

Entrance, Oil on linen, 12 x 15, 2012

Doorway, Oil on cabinet door, 14 x 29, 2012

Hot Sauce, Oil on wood, 9 x 12, 2012

Private Collection

Joyce, Oil on canvas, 24 x 36, 2012

Private Collection

Happy New Year, Oil on canvas, 32 x 24, 2012

Stranger to a Child's drawing, Oil on canvas, 84 x 72, 2011

Everlasting, Oil on linen, 48 x 48, 2012

Here is some more for you all to check out, these pieces are also from this semester. Had to work hard and I feel like I had a pretty good output. The one thing that sucks about some of the images is that the colors can never really come close to what they look like in person. The painting with Ali at the bottom of this post was one of the last paintings I finished this semester, I will put detail images of this painting and others in the next post.

If you don't know now you know!

First Year at Yale done

Charohn, Graphite on paper, 28 x 36, 2012

Fuck Drawing, ink on paper, 36 x 24, 2012

destroyed by water damage

Endia, Oil on linen, 24 x 32, 2012

Private Collection

Young Scholar, Oil on copper, 5 x 7, 2012

Private Collection

Let us trade, Oil on wood framed, 22 x 19, 2012

Wayde, Oil on canvas stretched on panel, 6 x 7, 2012

Private Collection

Come Study, Oil on canvas with wooden box, 42 x 33, 2012

Stranger to a child's drawing 2, Oil on canvas, 48 x 32

Private Collection

So here are some new works from this past semester and I will post more after this is published. This first year has helped me to grow in my exploration and the resources at YALE are unlimited to say the least. So take a look at the work, leave a response and we can have a dialogue about the pieces in this post as well as the next.

Peace, love and afro grease!

A Long time

One day in the land of Milk and Honey, Oil on canvas, 72 x 60, 2012

It has been so long since I posted anything and I apologize for that. Grad school and artistic rhetoric keep me busy. Any way this painting is titled " One day in the land of Milk and Honey", it may seem that this is in some way connected to the Trayvon Martin situation but this was created before that. Although that read of the work is an interesting conversation I hope that the painting extends beyond that to a very large and historical context. It is very upsetting though to think that a negative transformation of an object can be contextualized by the simple fact that it has come in contact with a Black body. I almost forgot I just recently received a scholarship from the national cowboy museum and I want to thank everyone who wrote a letter of recommendation for me and that I got a little dough for their efforts lol. I will post that scholarship stuff in a later post.

peace, love and afro grease

Detroit Grown

Detroit is a beautiful place to make ones drive exceed the rest. When your from this place you truly know what hard work is and you understand the dichotomy of rich and poor. I love my city.