ROBERT FREEMAN
NEW WORKS
Statement by the Artist, Robert Freeman
The African American community is as complex as any other. It has no single voice, no single way of seeing the world, and no single way of producing art, music, literature or theater. My paintings explore and celebrate the beauty, elegance and grace of the black middle class through my personal experience.
Commissioned for an exhibition at Adelson Galleries Boston, New Works is inspired by my childhood spent between two cultures: the Gold Coast, West Africa (now Ghana) and the East Coast of the United States. In New Works I revisit the themes of race and culture that I explored in “Black Tie” (1981), part of a series that comments on the personal conflict I felt as African-Americans settled into middle-class life following the racial tensions of the 1960s and 1970s. Although much has changed in 35 years— including the election of the nation’s first African American President— questions of identity and inclusion remain.
New Works includes eight oil paintings of African Americans at formal social events. The figures in my latest series are more engaging and the colors more intense than in my previous work.
Ashanti Gold (Triptych, middle panel, detail)
19 2016 Oil on canvas 14 x 11 inches
Couples
17 2016
on canvas 14 x 11 inches
Couples
Oil
23 2016
on canvas 16 x 13 inches
Couples
Oil
18 2016 Oil on canvas 14 x 11 inches
Couples
22 2016 Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches
Couples
21 2016 Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches
Couples
Step Sisters (Diptych), 2016, Oil on canvas, 60 x 44 inches each
Hands On 2016 Oil on canvas 40 x 30 inches
42
Party Lines 2016 Oil on canvas 56 x
inches
The Interlude 2016
60
40
Oil on canvas
x
inches
The Introduction 2016 Oil on canvas 44 x 30 inches
The Sundowners (Triptych), 2016, Oil on canvas, 60 x 38 inches, 72 x 96 inches, 60 x 40 inches
Golden Necklace 6 2016 Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches
Golden Necklace 7 2016 Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches
Golden Necklace 8 2016 Oil on canvas 44 x 30 inches
Ashanti Gold (Triptych), 2016, Oil on canvas, 62 x 46 inches, 62 x 42 inches, 62 x 42 inches
Ashanti Gold (Triptych)
2016
Oil on canvas
62 x 46 inches, 62 x 42 inches, 62 x 42 inches
$42,000
Couples 17
2016
Oil on canvas
14 x 11 inches
$3,000
Couples 18
2016
Oil on canvas 14 x 11 inches
$3,000
Couples 19
2016
Oil on canvas 14 x 11 inches
$3,000
Couples 21
2016
Oil on canvas
16 x 13 inches
$3,400
Couples 22
2016
Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches
$3,400
Couples 23
2016 Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches
$3,400
Golden Necklace 6
2016
Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches
$8,000
Golden Necklace 7
2016
Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches
$8,000
Golden Necklace 8
2016
Oil on canvas 44 x 30 inches
$15,000
Hands On
2016 Oil on canvas 40 x 30 inches
$9,000
The Interlude
2016 Oil on canvas 60 x 40 inches
$15,000
The Introduction
2016 Oil on canvas 44 x 30 inches
$12,000
Party Lines
2016
Oil on canvas 56 x 42 inches
$15,000
Step Sisters (Diptych)
2016
Oil on canvas 60 x 44 inches each
$27,000
The Sundowners (Triptych)
2016 Oil on canvas 60 x 38 inches, 72 x 96 inches, 60 x 40 inches
$50,000
Published for the exhibition Adelson Galleries Boston 520 Harrison Avenue Boston MA 02118 617.832.0633 info@adelsongalleriesboston.com NEW WORKS ROBERT FREEMAN