First studio was under my bed
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Captioned Black Art
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“People always coming up with excuses about why they can’t do this and why they can’t do that. You can do anything you want to do.”
— Terry McMillan, Mama
A Snippet:
Did you know that Terry McMillan’s 1996 best-selling novel How Stella Got Her Groove Back—which explored a May-December romance—was based on McMillan’s own experience with her former husband, Jonathan Plummer, whom she married in 1998 when she was 47 and he was 24?
Learn more . . .
109. “Red Stripe Pivot” (2018)
“I do things that bring me joy in my studio; I only make paintings that I want to make, that I believe should exist.”
— Derek Fordjour
Did you know?
Did you know that The Metropolitan Transit Authority of New York commissioned Derek Fordjour to create a series of mosaics for Manhattan’s 145th Street subway station which were unveiled in 2018?
Derek Fordjour (born in 1974 in Memphis, Tennessee, to parents of Ghanaian heritage) earned his BA at Morehouse College before receiving an MEd in Arts Education at Harvard University and an additional MFA in painting at Hunter College.
Fordjour was appointed the Alex Katz Chair at Cooper Union and serves as a Core Critic at the Yale School of Art. He was named the 2016 Sugarhill Museum Artist-in-Residence and the 2018 Deutsche Bank NYFA Fellow.
110. “Explain It To Me” (2020)
“I want to spark conversations that have, historically, been hard to start.”
— Dave McClinton
Did you know?
Did you know that Dave McClinton is an artist, designer, speaker, and born-again true Austinite?
In the artist’s own words, “I want to illustrate the life-cycle of the inner life of a black person. From innocent to informed. From recklessly defiant to determined. How the weight of American history can either crush you or harden you. And, how either result often has to be hidden from view just to get through the day.”
“I want the community to seize this moment in history to create work that tells a story and compels them to seek out empathy and activism for the sake of others.”
“My hope is the work I'm creating can help do that.”
111. “Easter Egg Hunt” (1993)
“I began drawing at the age of three. My father would give me wood to paint on and I'd paint in little enamel tins. My studio was under my bed. I never had any doubt in my mind about being an artist.”
— Aminah Robinson
Did you know?
Did you know that Aminah Brenda Lynn Robinson lived and worked in Columbus, Ohio, where she created large complex works that she nicknamed, RagGonNons?
For almost seven decades, Aminah Robinson created art that she described as, ‘filling in the blank pages of American history.’ She did this by depicting the lives and events of both ordinary and extraordinary African Americans and creating books about family, community, and stories gained from her many travels.
In fact, during a visit to Africa in 1979, an Egyptian holy man gave Robinson the name ‘Aminah’ which she legally affixed to her given name.
In the end, Aminah Robinson’s goal was to create art that filled the gaps of African and African American history, encouraging others to research and document the history of their families and communities for the next generation.
Don’t think about what you want to be; think about what you want to do—then just do it
(Breathe In . . . Breathe Out)
First studio was under my bed
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