Caint to Caint
Work by Winfred Rembert
right: Loading Cotton , (Detail) 2009 Dye on carved and tooled leather 40 1/2 x 31 3/4 inches
Adelson Galleries Boston is pleased to present Caint to Caint, a solo exhibition of Winfred Rembert (b. 1945). The artwork will be on display from Friday, February 1st, 2013 through March 31st, 2013 in our South End gallery at 520 Harrison Avenue.
The title of the show is based on Winfred Rembert’s painting, “Caint to Caint (Can’t see when you go to work, can’t see when you get back),” referring to working in the cotton fields before sunrise until after sunset during his days in Cuthbert, Georgia in the 1950s and 60s. Winfred continues this work ethic - working from the early morning to late at night telling his life’s story on leather sheets.
Having survived the hardships of bigotry, near lynching, and jail, Winfred has seen some of the ugliest moments in American history. He retells these memories with a method that he learned in prison when he witnessed a man carving leather wallets. He began practicing this technique, and later in his life, at the suggestion of his wife Patsy, Winfred took the practice to a new level by carving his life story into sheets of tanned leather that he colors with dye. He does not simply depict the horror of his past; rather, he recaptures the feeling and vision of Cuthbert, Georgia in the 1950s and 60s. One sees segregated pool halls, church and town scenes that seem antiquated, yet they existed during this man’s generation. His amazing life story is not only an inspiration, but also an important part of American History.
The new documentary, All Me: The Life and Times of Winfred Rembert, will be showing at the Brattle Theater in Cambridge on Wednesday, February 27th from 5:30 - 7:30 PM.
Adam Adelson Director
There is a checklist
with prices at the back of this catalog.
Picking Cotton / Colors , 2010
4
Dye on carved and tooled leather 35 1/4 x 30 3/4 inches
I’ve Got the Holy Ghost , 2010
Dye on carved and tooled leather
24 1/4 x 38 inches
Buck Ross’ Whiskey Still , 2004
5
Dye on carved and tooled leather 29 x 51 inches
Winfred’s Baptism , 1999
Dye on carved and tooled leather
6
23 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches
Saturday Shopping Day , 2000
Dye on carved and tooled leather
24 3/4 x 34 inches
7
Bubba Dukes and Feet’s Pool Hall (Winfred Dancing) , 2002
8
Dye on carved and tooled leather 24 1/2 x 29 1/2 inches
Jeff’s Pool Room , 2003
Dye on carved and tooled leather 23 1/4 x 35 inches
Cross the Tracks, Andrew Street , 2001
9
Dye on carved and tooled leather 19 1/4 x 32 inches
Winfred’s Pool Room , 2007
10
Dye on carved and tooled leather 30 1/2 x 25 3/4 inches
Mixed Emotions (A Cottonfield) , 2008
11
Dye on carved and tooled leather 24 1/4 x 35 1/2 inches
Loading Watermelons , 2012
12
Dye on carved and tooled leather 20 1/4 x 30 3/4 inches
Cross the Tracks, Cuthbert , 2010
Dye on carved and tooled leather
47 1/4 x 30 1/2 inches
Rocking in Church , 2011
13
Dye on carved and tooled leather 33 1/2 x 27 1/2 inches
Black Playground , 2003
Dye on carved and tooled leather
31 1/2 x 35 inches
14
Pregnant in the Cotton Field , 1996-1997
Dye on carved and tooled leather
31 3/4 x 20 1/2 inches
Civil Rights - I Have a Dream , 1998
Dye on carved and tooled leather 34 x 22 inches
15
The Laughing Barrel , 2010
Dye on carved and tooled leather
16
32 1/2 x 36 inches
Blakely Street, Cuthbert, Georgia , 2009
Dye on carved and tooled leather
32 x 42 1/2 inches
17
Street Scene / Yellow Taxi , 2008
Dye on carved and tooled leather
18
27 1/2 x 34 1/4 inches
Hamilton Ave. , 2006
Dye on carved and tooled leather
19
21 x 27 3/4 inches
Loading Cotton , 2009
Dye on carved and tooled leather 40 1/2 x 31 3/4 inches
Picking Cotton with Boss Men , 2007-2008
20
Dye on carved and tooled leather 56 3/4 x 28 1/2 inches
Maybell’s Family , 2008
Dye on carved and tooled leather
21
27 3/4 x 31 1/4 inches
Mixed Pickers , 2010
Dye on carved and tooled leather
22
28 3/4 x 35 1/2 inches
All Me #2 , 2005
Dye on carved and tooled leather 21 1/2 x 24 1/2 inches
23
Caint to Caint (Can’t see when you go to work, can’t see when you get back) , 2008
Dye on carved and tooled leather
31 1/2 x 27 3/4 inches
24
Black Masterson , 2001
Dye on carved and tooled leather
25
27 3/8 x 32 inches
Wilson Bros. Rolling Store , 2009
Dye on carved and tooled leather
26
23 x 30 inches
Dye on carved and tooled leather
39 1/2 x 28 1/2 inches
Dye on carved and tooled leather
35 1/2 x 28 inches
Cracking Rocks , 2011
In the Ditch , 2009
27
Water Break - Picking Cotton , 2012
Dye on carved and tooled leather
28
27 1/4 x 31 3/4 inches
Picking Cotton , 2011
Dye on carved and tooled leather
29
26 1/2 x 27 inches
Chain Gang Picking Cotton , 2011
Dye on carved and tooled leather
30
30
x 32 3/4 inches
Cotton Wagon Race , 2012
Dye on carved and tooled leather
31
28 x 31 inches
Mama’s Post Card , 2009
Dye on carved and tooled leather 26 1/4 x 32 1/2 inches
Blue Jacket Jazz Band , 2011
32
Dye on carved and tooled leather 23 1/2 x 34 inches
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms , 2007
Dye on carved and tooled leather
33
26 1/2 x 42 3/4 inches
Biography
A native of Cuthbert, Georgia, Winfred Rembert spent his childhood as a fieldworker in the pre-civil rights South. Brought up by his great-aunt (“Mama”), Rembert paints stories that look back to his youth in the days of segregation. Despite the often grim working conditions he encountered (not to mention a near-lynching and years spent on a prison chain gang), Rembert’s works focus on the joyous aspects of black life in the 1950s South — the strong family and community bonds, the cultural vibrancy, and the many colorful characters that lifted the spirits of those who had little choice but to labor in the region’s cotton and peanut fields.
Marked by tactile surfaces, saturated colors, and lively, rhythmic patterning, Rembert’s works are painted on leather sheets that he hand tools and then dyes. These energetic compositions — with their engaging narratives of life in the rural South — have brought Rembert comparisons to noted African-American artists Hale Woodruff, Jacob Lawrence, Horace Pippin, and Romare Bearden. Rembert, who is self-taught, lives and works in New Haven, Connecticut. His paintings are represented in a number of important public and private collections, and were the subject of a major exhibition at the Yale University Art Gallery in 2000.
next page:
Saturday Shopping Day , (Detail) 2000
Dye on carved and tooled leather 24 3/4 x 34 inches
34
Photo courtesy of Ducat Media
W infred R embert
Caint to Caint
FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 31, 2013
All Me #2 , 2005 SOLD page 23
Black Masterson , 2001 $25,000 page 25
Black Playground , 2003 $25,000 page 14
Blakely Street, Cuthbert, Georgia , 2009 $30,000 page 17
Blue Jacket Jazz Band , 2011 $20,000 page 32
Bubba Dukes and Feet’s Pool Hall (Winfred Dancing) , 2002 $20,000 page 8
Buck Ross’ Whiskey Still , 2004 $30,000 page 5
Caint to Caint
(Can’t see when you go to work, can’t see when you get back) , 2008 $20,000 page 24
Chain Gang Picking Cotton , 2011 $20,000 page 30
Civil Rights - I Have a Dream , 1980 $20,000 page 15
Cotton Wagon Race , 2012 $25,000 page 31
Cracking Rocks , 2011 $20,000 page 27
Cross the Tracks, Andrew Street , 2001 $20,000 page 9
Cross the Tracks, Cuthbert , 2010 $25,000 page 13
Hamilton Ave. , 2006 $18,000 page 19
In the Ditch , 2009 $20,000 page 27
I’ve Got the Holy Ghost , 2010 $25,000 page 5
Jeff’s Pool Room , 2003 $25,000 page 9
Leaning on the Everlasting Arms , 2007 $30,000 page 33
Loading Cotton , 2009 $30,000 page 20
Loading Watermelons , 2012 $20,000 page 12
Mama’s Post Card , 2009 $25,000 page 32
Maybell’s Family , 2008 $25,000 page 21
Mixed Emotions (A Cottonfield) , 2008 $20,000 page 11
Mixed Pickers , 2010 $30,000 page 22
Picking Cotton , 2011 $20,000 page 29
Picking Cotton with Boss Men , 2007-2008 $35,000 page 20
Picking Cotton / Colors , 2010 $30,000 page 4
Pregnant in the Cotton Field , 1996-1997 $25,000 page 15
Rocking in Church , 2011 $20,000 page 13
Saturday Shopping Day , 2000 $25,000 page 7
Street Scene / Yellow Taxi , 2008 #25,000 page 18
The Laughing Barrel , 2010 $30,000 page 16
Water Break - Picking Cotton , 2012 $25,000 page 28
Wilson Bros. Rolling Store , 2009 $25,000 page 26
Winfred’s Baptism , 1999 $25,000 page 6
Winfred’s Pool Room , 2007 $30,000 page 10
