STEPHEN TOWNS: A MIGRATION
Rosenberg Gallery
I Shall Never Be Moved 2016 acrylic, oil, metal leaf, bristol board, canvas, and paper on panel 24� x 18�
Ode to Anthony Van Angola 2014 oil and metal leaf on canvas 30” x 36”
The Shepherd of Sandtown 2014 acrylic and metal leaf on panel 24” x 30”
Throughout my artistic life, I’ve aimed to create a body of work exploring the African Diaspora through portraiture. I often incorporate insects into many of my works. Layered in multiple meanings, each becomes symbols of the spirituality, movement, endurance, and strength that embody their subjects. A Migration is a collection of new and previous works highlighting the migration of Africans to the Americas. These works provided an avenue for me to process all that I have learned about the violence of American history and imparted a framework for how to navigate and articulate the current anger and frustration that exists throughout the nation and the world today.
STEPHEN TOWNS “ALL OF MY WORK IS ROOTED IN MY GROWING UP IN THE DEEP SOUTH. MY WORK IS IN DIRECT RESPONSE TO ISSUES PLAGUING AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE, ISSUES SUCH AS LOSS OF ANCESTRAL ROOTS, SLAVERY, CLASS, EDUCATION, SKIN TONE, AND RELIGION. I WANT TO CREATE BEAUTY FROM THE HARDSHIPS IN LIFE.” Currently based out of Baltimore, Maryland, mixed-media artist and muralist Stephen Towns was born in the Deep South (Charleston, South Carolina). Towns primarily works in oil, acrylic, drawing, and collaged fabric. Much of his visual inspiration stems from researching Medieval altarpieces, Impressionist paintings, and wax cloth prints. His work has been exhibited at Galerie Myrtis, Gallery CA, Platform Gallery, Hood College, and is in the collection of the City of Charlestown, South Carolina. Most recently, Towns was honored as the inaugural recipient of the 2016 Municipal Art Society of Baltimore, Travel Prize and received the Greater Baltimore Cultural Alliance Rubys Artist Grant in 2015. “The portraits I create are not only glimpses of the sitters; they are also a reflection of myself and mirror my struggle to attain a sense of self-knowledge, self-worth, and spirituality beyond the Christian values that are often idealized in African American culture.”
AUGUST 18 – OCTOBER 16, 2017 ARTIST’S RECEPTION:
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 6-8 P.M.
Rosenberg Gallery GALLERY HOURS 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday – Friday 410-337-6477
DIRECTIONS
Baltimore Beltway, I-695, to exit 27A. Make first left onto campus.
Cover image: African/ American: Boy Next Door, 2014, oil, acrylic, and metal leaf on panel, 24” x 18”
www.goucher.edu/rosenberg The exhibit is free and open to the public.
17413-5756 01/17
The Rosenberg Gallery program is funded with the assistance of grants from the Maryland State Arts Council, an agency funded by the state of Maryland and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as the Baltimore County Commission on the Arts and Sciences.