Norman Lewis (1909 - 1979)

Parade, 1961, is an oil on paper by Norman Lewis showing his abstracted figural practices. Around the time of the Civil Rights Movement, the heat of civil unrest motivated artists across the country to express their feelings. Even though all the figures are abstracted, their simplistic bodies are composed of multiple geometric shapes stacking, overlapping, and connecting with each other to express the vitality of their individualities. None of the two figures are identical; therefore, they possess unique narratives within the larger framework of the event, which the title entailed. Lewis’s depiction of the group in parade represents the larger black community, which was actively tackling racial barriers. And more specifically, the action parade alludes to Lewis’s awareness of social events around this time, such as the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, which called on communities to unite and work together.

Provenance

The Artist Collection of Robert Gist Collection of Wendy (Gist) Lawler and Michael Lawler

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY

Exhibition History

Selections from the Hamptons Virtual Art Fair, 3 September – 17 October 2020

Bill Hodges Gallery, New York, NY