FALL 2018
News and Perspectives for Friends of the Arts
6
Conversations in Abstraction: Three Voices
A RT S
P R O G R A M
14
U N I V E R S IT Y
Ulysses Marshall: Storytelling Through Art
O F
M A RYL A N D
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UMUC Arts Program Out and About: Richmond, Virginia
U N I V E R S IT Y
C O L L E G E
GREETINGS From the President Dear Art Patrons, On behalf of University of Maryland University College (UMUC) and the 90,000 students we serve each year, thank you for supporting our mission and our Arts Program. Since 1947, UMUC has focused on bringing affordable, quality education within reach for women and men everywhere—and our Arts Program aligns with and supports that mission. In addition to showcasing the work and worldviews of established Maryland and international artists, our Arts Program also seeks out emerging artists, introducing their work to new and broader audiences. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce that we will host our first juried exhibition for high school students in spring 2019. This work is possible because of your active participation and support. To all who are patrons of the arts, to the artists and scholars who broaden and deepen our experience of art and the world around us, and to our many generous donors, I say thank you! I hope you will be able to join us at one of the wonderful exhibitions we have scheduled for the coming year. Sincerely,
Javier Miyares President University of Maryland University College
From the Chair Dear Art Lovers, For the past several years, I have worked as vice chair alongside Anne Maher to make sure the arts are accessible to the general public throughout Maryland. As chair of the Art Advisory Board, she was the driving force behind many initiatives of the UMUC Arts Program. Throughout her nine years of service, she contributed her vision and leadership, her time, and her professional expertise to the arts in Maryland, and I wish her well. Now that I am assuming the position of chair, I pledge to continue to march to the same beat as Anne. I will continue to support the Arts Program to the fullest of my ability.
UMUC ARTS PROGRAM
MISSION STATEMENT The UMUC Arts Program is dedicated to furthering the university’s objectives by creating a dynamic environment in which our diverse constituents, including students and the general public, can study and learn from direct exposure to our art collections, exhibitions, and educational programs.
As a gallery owner in Baltimore, Maryland, I have witnessed the impact of the arts on our community and its ability to change lives and the role that UMUC’s art exhibitions and scholarly catalogs serve in educating the public. I will continue to advocate for culturally diverse exhibitions at UMUC, strive to provide more exposure for all Maryland artists, and support the overall mission of the university through the arts and its Arts Program. Thank you!
Mrytis Bedolla Chair, Art Advisory Board University of Maryland University College
CONTENTS
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4
The Director’s Perspective
14 ON THE COVER
Conversations in Abstraction: Three Voices
Ulysses Marshall: Storytelling Through Art
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UMUC Arts Program Out and About: Richmond, Virginia
In Every Issue GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT AND THE CHAIR 2 COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT The Language of Abstraction This summer, UMUC exhibited works by Ed Clark, Richard W. Franklin, and Kenneth Young in The Language of Abstraction. Learn more about these artists on p. 4.
Richard W. Franklin, Waiting to Cross, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 40 x 46 inches
3 DID YOU KNOW? 22 NEWS AND EVENTS 24 BECOME A FRIEND OF THE ARTS AT UMUC
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Arts Program director Eric Key; reception attendees view the artworks at the Language of Abstraction exhibition; detail of Hamilton Glass’s Boaz & Ruth mural, located in Highland Park, Richmond, Virginia; Going North by Ulysses Marshall
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ROBERT DENNIS REID / BY JON WEST-BEY FALL 2018 The UMUC Arts Program is proud to highlight a generous donation from Neloise Adkins-Reid of artwork by painter Robert Dennis Reid.
Reid was originally from Atlanta,
Georgia, and studied at Clark College (now Clark Atlanta University), the Art Institute of Chicago, and the Parsons School of Design in New York. He taught painting and drawing at the Summit Art Center in New Jersey and the Rhode Island School of Design. Robert Dennis Reid, Yellow A, 1970, oil on canvas, 48 x 48 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, International Collection, Gift of the artist
His works are in the collections
of Miles College (Birmingham, Alabama), the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art (Washington, D.C.), the Muscatine Art Center (Iowa), the Univer-
sity of Notre Dame (Indiana), Cornell and Syracuse Universities (New York), Newark Museum and Drew University (New Jersey), and the University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia).
Reid donated his papers to the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art in 1978. The
collection includes catalogs, clippings, and correspondence, including letters to and from Romare Bearden. Reid passed away in 2000 in Riverdale, Georgia, at the age of 76.
Much of Reid’s work was done in impressionist and abstract styles. The three donated
pieces are titled Figures on the Beach (1970), Yellow A (1970), and A Falling #1000 (1977). All three of these works will be on display across from the Gladys Goldstein Gallery at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center at UMUC.
Managing Editor Eric Key Editors Sandy Bernstein Beth Butler Barbara Reed Director, Institutional Marketing Cynthia Friedman Graphic Designer Jennifer Norris Project Manager Laurie Bushkoff Arts Program Staff Tawanna Manago René Sanjines Jon West-Bey UMUC Art Advisory Board Javier Miyares, UMUC President Mrytis Bedolla, Chair Eva J. Allen, PhD, Honorary Member Joan Bevelaqua Schroeder Cherry, EdD I-Ling Chow, Honorary Member Nina C. Dwyer Karin Goldstein, Honorary Member Juanita Boyd Hardy, Honorary Member Sharon Smith Holston, Honorary Member Eric Key Thomas Li, Honorary Member David Maril, Honorary Member Christopher Shields Barbara Stephanic, PhD, Honorary Member Dianne A. Whitfield-Locke, DDS Sharon Wolpoff Elizabeth Zoltan, PhD University of Maryland University College is a constituent institution of the University System of Maryland. Art@UMUC is published twice a year by UMUC’s Art Advisory Board. Please send comments to arts@umuc.edu or mail to Magazine Editor Arts Program University of Maryland University College 3501 University Boulevard East Adelphi, MD 20783-8007 Phone 301-985-7937 • Fax 301-985-7865
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover John Woo; Inside cover
LEFT: Robert Dennis Reid, Figures on the Beach, 1970, oil on canvas, 51 x 44 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, International Collection, Gift of the artist; RIGHT: Robert Dennis Reid, A Falling #1000, 1977, oil on canvas, 66 x 48 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, International Collection, Gift of the artist
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Katherine Lambert, Stephen Spartana; p. 1 (clockwise from top left) Katherine Lambert, Tracey Brown, courtesy of Hamilton Glass, John Woo, John Woo; p 2. John Woo; p. 3 John Woo; p. 4: (top) Katherine Lambert, (bottom, left to right) courtesy of Jo Israelson, courtesy of Oldtown Editions, John Woo; pp. 5–7: John Woo; p. 8 (top) Ray Llanos, courtesy of N’Namdi Contemporary; p. 9 courtesy of Ed Clark and Tilton Gallery, New York; p. 10 (top) Leslie Young, (bottom) courtesy of Bethesda Fine Art; p. 11 John Woo; p. 12 (top) Colleen Garibaldi, (bottom) courtesy of Richard W. Franklin; p. 13 courtesy of Richard W. Franklin; p. 14–19 John Woo; p. 20–21 Jon West-Bey; p. 22 (top) Tracey Brown, (bottom, clockwise from left) Mignonette Dooley, William Anderson, Tracey Brown, Bruce McNeil; p. 23 John Woo
DID YOU KNOW? LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT ARTISTS AND ARTWORKS IN THE UMUC PERMANENT COLLECTION
By Eric Key
Did you know . . . Reuben Kramer taught
Sy Gresser believed that art
Perna Krick, who was primarily
Baltimore artist Tom Miller was best
independent art classes to many
celebrates human existence on
self-taught, began her artistic
known for his painted furniture in a
artists in the Baltimore area?
a spiritual level and produced his
career as a sculptor but switched
style he described as Afro-Deco?
first sculpture under the tutelage
to painting and won an award from
of William “Bill” Taylor?
the Corcoran in 1947?
ARTWORK ABOVE (left to right): Reuben Kramer, Untitled,1967, pen and ink on paper,
Maryland Artist Collection; Sy Gresser, St. Christophus, 1993, Tennessee pink marble, Maryland Artist Collection; Perna Krick, The Feather, 1989, oil on canvas, Doris Patz Collection of Maryland Artists; Tom Miller, Philodendron, 1988, vanity desk and mirror, enamel on wood, Doris Patz Collection of Maryland Artists
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The Director’s Perspective Since our beginning in 1978 with a donation of Japanese woodblock prints, the UMUC Arts Program has explored and promoted the arts in Maryland, in the national capital region, and around the world for more than 40 years. Today, the UMUC Arts Program focuses on building a collection of art by Maryland artists, but it continues to take stock of the past in order to plan new and exciting visual art exhibitions for the future.
Six years ago, we reviewed the history of art exhibitions in
Maryland, including past exhibitions at UMUC. With the goal of providing exhibition space for as many artists as possible, we decided to start a juried art exhibition. The Biennial Maryland Regional Juried Art Exhibition (BMRE), patterned after the juried exhibition hosted by the Baltimore Museum of Art from 1933 to 1992, was intended to showcase art by artists living in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Using the same principles as its model, the BMRE provides a professional space for local talents to show their works and introduces our audience to artists they might not be exposed to otherwise. It also acts as a venue to present emerging artists to the world of art. The fourth BMRE, originally scheduled for next spring, is now slated for fall 2019.
BMRE Retrospective A look back at previous BMRE first-place winners. Could your entry be the next Best of Show?
2011 Jo Israelson
Dovecote: 365 Prayers for Peace
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2014 Helen Zughaib Veiled Secrets
2016 Mike McConnell
Bear Carver (diptych, right panel)
Floyd Coleman, Red Advancing on Green Area, 1967, acrylic on canvas, 70 x 66 inches
For our spring exhibition, we will hold a juried art exhibi-
tion for Maryland high school students instead. The statewide competition will enable students to enhance their classroom learning and provide students and teachers an opportunity to work together to showcase creative works of the highest quality. Cash prizes will be provided to award-winning students Hayward Oubre, Radar Tower, 1960, wire sculpture, 43 x 19 x 16¼ inches, Collection of Dianne Whitfield-Locke and Carnell Locke
and their schools, and the best-of-show winner will have his or her artwork featured on a poster that will be distributed to all Maryland schools and other venues.
Another exhibition that we are extremely proud to present
serves as a retrospective and an examination of the art of Maryland artist Floyd Coleman and his mentor Hayward Oubre.
A visual artist whose works are in many collections through-
Coleman’s professor, colleague, and friend Hayward Oubre,
out the country, Coleman is best known for his essays on art,
who was influential in Coleman’s artistic development and
especially African American art, and he contributed his skills
career. An award-winning printmaker, painter, and sculptor,
to UMUC a few years ago when he authored an essay for our
he taught at various universities in the South, developing art
Delilah W. Pierce: Natural Perspective exhibition catalog.
departments and mentoring students, and had a profound
influence on many of them, including Coleman.
I have been a student of Coleman’s art since I was an
This exhibition will also feature the wire sculptures of
undergraduate in the late 1970s. I knew of the early mixed-
media drawings he produced after his trip to Africa, some of
particularly jazz. Rhythmic Impulses: The Art of Floyd Coleman
Coleman and Oubre shared a common inspiration: music,
which were included in African American Art and Artists by
and Haywood Oubre reveals the influence of jazz on their work
Samella Lewis. Over the years, I had seen bits and pieces
as each artist illustrated his cultural journey through life. The
of Coleman’s visual language—he has participated in group
exhibition will open on September 30, 2018, with an opening
exhibitions and had small solo exhibitions—but never one large
reception on October 7, 2018, beginning at 3 p.m.
collective forum of his works. It became clear that the Arts
Program, as a supporter of the arts and artists in Maryland,
exhibitions—and to many more opportunities to recognize and
should mount an exhibition of his artwork.
foster art and artists in the community.
The Arts Program at UMUC is looking forward to these
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CONVERSATIONS IN ABSTRACTION:
THREE VOICES By Virginia K. Adams, PhD
Ed Clark, Richard W. Franklin, and Kenneth Young came of age as abstract painters in the middle of the 20th century. They entered art worlds that were familiar with, if not always receptive to, abstract forms of artistic syntax.
The three artists’ careers have overlapped in time and included some
similar experiences: professional education in schools of fine arts; extensive international travel and, in the cases of Clark and Franklin, substantial periods of living abroad; early adoption of abstraction as an approach to painting; and employment of a wide variety of materials and painting practices, including working on large-scale canvases on the floor. Yet Clark, Franklin, and Young did not know each other, and their work has not previously been shown together. Their separate paths as artists reflect the vicissitudes of the art world and the influences of place and time. In the cases of Clark and Young, changing views on African American abstract painters have affected the reception and promotion of their work.
Virginia K. Adams practiced corporate law for more than 20 years before earning master’s and doctoral degrees in art history at University of Maryland, College Park (UMCP). She has taught at UMCP, Loyola University Maryland, and Maryland Institute College of Art. Adams lectures and writes on issues of modern and contemporary art.
RIGHT: Artwork details (top to bottom):
Ed Clark, Untitled, 2005 Kenneth Young, Butterfly, 1968 Richard W. Franklin, Carp and Autumn Leaves, 2009
6 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
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ED CLARK swept the broom from one side to the other. As Clark once said, “I began to believe . . . that the real truth is in the stroke.”²
In this exhibition, two untitled works, one from 1983 and the
other from 1981 to 1985, reflect this process. Another untitled work from the early 1990s shows a variation in the process, with broom-swept arcs emanating from both sides or the top and bottom of the canvas, divided by a broad horizontal stroke.
An untitled work on paper from the early 1970s, although
smaller in size, is indicative of many larger paintings he made throughout the 1970s that include a central elliptical form. An untitled work from 2005 is a reprise of Clark’s early explosive abstraction. As an African American abstractionist, Clark has credited his stays in Paris with giving him the freedom to develop his art without some of the limitations and rejections he would have experienced in the United States. “Over there, rejection had nothing to do with being black. I was viewed as American,” he has said.³ Ed Clark was born in New Orleans in 1926 and moved with
his family to Chicago at a young age. He served in the U.S.
tion often faced disinterest and rejection by major museums
Army Air Corps during World War II and graduated from the
and lacked the regular gallery representation that can guide and
Art Institute of Chicago in 1951. From 1952 to 1956, he stud-
promote an artist’s career. During the course of the civil rights
ied, painted, and exhibited his work in Paris among a group of
and Black Power movements in particular, abstract painting by
French and American artists, including Beauford Delaney,
black artists was considered by some as “white art in black-
Sam Francis, Ellsworth Kelly, and George Sugarman. When
face.”4 According to curator Valerie Cassel Oliver, “There was
Clark returned to New York, he joined the Brata Gallery, a new
this manifesto with the Black Arts Movement that you did work
artist-run storefront gallery on Tenth Street in lower Manhattan.
that reflected the beauty of that community in no uncertain
In a group exhibition in 1957, Clark showed a painting shaped
terms.”5 In essence, nonfigurative art by black artists was seen
by the application of paper fragments that extended the pictorial
as insufficiently connected to the causes and concerns of the
space beyond the canvas, noted then as the first shaped paint-
African American community and experience.
Until recently, African American artists working in abstrac-
ing ever exhibited.¹
Clark’s early abstract work, with
its active, colorful, allover brushwork, placed him squarely within the New York abstract expressionist camp. Clark has cited Willem de Kooning, Joan Mitchell, and Russian-born Nicolas de Staël as influences. By the time he returned to Paris for a second sojourn, from 1966 to 1969, Clark had developed his signature approach: making large, horizontal abstract paintings by wielding a push broom to achieve the sense of speed
“PINK IS A PRETTY COLOR, BUT ONCE YOU PUT THE BROOM THROUGH IT, IT’S NO LONGER PEACEFUL, BECAUSE OF THE SPEED. THE BROOM CAN MAKE SOMETHING ELSE HAPPEN TO COLOR.”
ED CLARK
and wide sweeping paths of color that have characterized his work for much of his career. Having
placed his canvas on the floor and marked spaces for broom-
exhibitions over the years, including a retrospective at the
strokes with tape, Clark would deposit pools of paint along the
Studio Museum in Harlem in 1980. The Museum of Modern Art
edges to produce particular color blends and gradations as he
acquired its first painting by Clark in 2014.6
8 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Clark’s paintings have been shown in many solo and group
ABOVE: Ed Clark, Untitled, early 1990s, acrylic on canvas, 55¼ x 70½ inches RIGHT: Ed Clark, Untitled, 2005,
acrylic on canvas, 53¼ x 66 inches
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KENNETH YOUNG
Red Dance, mistakenly pictured on its side in the article,
belies Rose’s statements about implicit black subject matter and allusions to an environment different from “white America.” It is a luminous mélange of globular forms in colors ranging from dark to light red, with accents of bright orange. It is a vibrant abstract painting emblematic of Young’s abstract expressionist approach working within the context of the Washington Color School. It is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
As evidenced by works in this exhibition, Young’s paintings
of the 1960s and early 1970s show rich and varied palettes and his predilection for orb-shaped motifs. He often painted on the floor, pouring acrylic paint onto unprimed canvas and diluting it with water to make it flow and become absorbed in unpredictable patterns. Young sometimes used an airbrush to soften edges, which gave his orbs the appearance of floating. However, some later paintings—notably an untitled work (2000) and Blue Nile River (2010)—offer evidence of a turn to landscape. Kenneth Young (1933–2017) was born in Louisville,
Kentucky, but spent his career in Washington, D.C., working
specifically to matters important to the artist. Riot (1969),
within the sphere of the Washington Color School painters.
featuring vertical and angular imagery, suggests an allusion to
Having earned a degree in physics at Indiana University, he en-
the disturbances of the civil rights era. Sun Ra Dance (2000)
rolled at the University of Louisville intending to study chemical
connects the jazz composer and performer Sun Ra to Young’s
engineering but switched to painting instead. Young’s time in
love of jazz, which dated from his student days in Louisville,
Louisville immersed him in that city’s cultural milieu with Sam
while Blue Nile River is a clear reference to a trip Young took
Gilliam, Bill Hutson, and others who engaged in endless discus-
to Egypt for his work at the Smithsonian.
Three of Young’s abstract paintings in this exhibition refer
sions of philosophy, music, and art.7
Young moved to Washington, D.C., in 1963 and began a
three-decade career designing exhibitions for the Smithsonian Institution while continuing to paint. His early exhibition history reveals that he showed his work in Louisville at the university and other venues but more often in the Washington, D.C., region.8 His first one-man show took place at the Franz Bader Gallery, where curator Jacob Kainen described his approach: “Thus, while Young shares some technical concerns with other members of the color school, his point of view is basically that of an expressionist.”9 This statement encapsulates Young’s position on the periphery of the Washington Color School despite his friendship and rivalry with Sam Gilliam.10
Young’s painting Red Dance (1970) was featured with
works by other young African American artists with “special promise” in an article published in Art in America titled “Black Art in America.”¹¹ As an example of the difficulty some writers had with the “dilemma”of black abstraction and definitions of “black art,” art historian Barbara Rose asserted that “although black separatists and social-protest artists use specifically black subject matter, others, while employing the forms and techniques of modern art, refer either implicitly or explicitly to the black experience as content. In deliberately ‘funky’ idioms, they allude, in forms, materials, techniques or images, to an environment different in many respects from white America.”¹² Kenneth Young, Red Dance, 1970, acrylic on canvas, 841/2 x 67 inches National Gallery of Art
10 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
“I’VE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN . . . OUTER SPACE, INNER SPACE, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF WHAT OCCURS— FORCE, MAGNETISM, AND THAT KIND OF THING.”
KENNETH YOUNG
TOP: Kenneth Young, Riot, 1969, acrylic on canvas, 66 x 57 inches BOTTOM: Kenneth Young, Blue Nile River, 2010, acrylic on paper, 25 x 40 inches
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RICHARD W. FRANKLIN
Since the late 1960s, Franklin’s paintings have been shown
in a variety of settings, in solo and group shows, from Seoul to Chicago to New York to Washington, D.C., and now Hong Kong.
His works speak a language very different from those of
Clark and Young. They are organized by a barely discernable grid overpainted by fields of color. Small, hard-edged squares of contrasting colors and patterns dispersed at random disrupt the color fields. The paintings exude the sense of a slow and deliberative process, in contrast to the swift strokes of Clark’s Colleen Garibaldi
push broom or Young’s energetic color swirls. Materials such as encaustic, acrylic, silver leaf, twigs, thread, and images transferred from magazines form the body of Franklin’s work.
The artist refers to color as a voice. Although appearing
monochromatic at first glance, the paintings reveal expanses of color overlaid transparently with other colors poured from above as the painter worked over the canvas on the floor. With the notable exception of Moonstruck (2016), in which a horizontal Richard W. Franklin, born in 1939 in Rutherford, New Jersey,
slash of reflective squares of silver leaf are covered by a pattern
is a graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago and earned an MFA
of delicate twigs,14 the palettes are nearly indescribable.
at the Yale School of Art. After teaching art and color theory at
Eschewing primary colors, Franklin develops mixtures of blues
Queens College and Fordham University in New York during
and greens and pinks and browns that speak softly.
the 1970s, Franklin worked as a design consultant for museum
exhibitions throughout the world from 1982 to 2004.
fields without apparent direction and create strong contrasts
with the base, while palimpsests of indecipherable shapes swim
As a Fulbright fellow in Seoul, South Korea, from 1977
The contrasting colored squares float across the color
to 1979, he produced a body of work that can be seen as a
below the surface. The large scale of the works, coupled with
structural foundation for the work in this exhibition.¹³ Although
their atmospheric color blends, suggests being under water or
Franklin used indigenous materials in Korea—Hanji paper,
in a dense fog. As elements of Franklin’s private language, the
bamboo, ink, and string—the geometric aspects of his early
squares are beacons that could be glowing sea creatures or
abstract “wall sculptures,” with open spaces intersected by
distant headlights. According to the artist, the harmonies and
narrow strips of bamboo, presage elements of his paintings
dissonances of forms, colors, and spatial ambiguities constitute
of the last 15 years.
a multivocal language.
Richard W. Franklin, Moonstruck, 2016, acrylic and mixed media on silver leaf, 36 x 70 inches
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“MY UNDERLYING GOAL IS TO USE A DYNAMIC AND CONSTANTLY SHIFTING GRAMMAR TO CREATE AND SUSTAIN A WAVE OF CURIOSITY THAT ULTIMATELY DISSOLVES INTO INTROSPECTION.” RICHARD W. FRANKLIN
Abstract painting is a language with as many dialects, accents, and voices as there are painters and paintings. . . . The juxtaposition of the paintings of Clark, Franklin, and Young in this exhibition encourages conversations about three very different forms of abstract personal expression. This overarching discourse, in turn, inflects the conversations about each group
Richard W. Franklin, Mariana, 2013, acrylic on canvas, 84 x 56 inches
of paintings and the variations in style each artist developed over a long career. Adapted from the UMUC exhibition catalog The Language of Abstraction: Ed Clark, Richard W. Franklin, and Kenneth Young
Notes 1. Melissa Rachleff, Inventing Downtown: Artist-Run Galleries in New York City, 1952–1965 (New York: Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 2017), 71. 2. Quincy Troupe, “An Interview with Ed Clark,” in Edward Clark: For the Sake of the Search, eds. Barbara Cavaliere and George R. N’Namdi (Michigan: Belleville Lake Press, 1997), 17. 3. Troupe, “An Interview with Ed Clark,” 18–19. Speaking of his experience in the United States, Clark said, “The art establishment paid me no attention, though. They assumed the whole Abstract Expressionist movement and anything related to it was inhabited only by white painters.” 4. Kellie Jones, “To the Max: Energy and Experimentation,” in Energy/ Experimentation: Black Artists and Abstraction, 1964–1980 (New York: Studio Museum in Harlem, 2006), 15. There is a significant critical discourse around this subject. See, for example, Darby English, 1971: A Year in the Life of Color (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2016) and Robert Doty, Contemporary Black Artists in America (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, 1971), 7–13. 5. Hilarie M. Sheets, “Black Abstraction: Not a Contradiction,” ARTnews 113, no. 6 (June 2014): 62. 6. Roberta Smith, “Late-Life Explosions of Energy,” New York Times, December 29, 2017, sec. C.
7. Fred F. Bond, “Art Is an Old Man’s Game,” in An Exhibition of Recent Paintings by Kenneth Victor Young (Nashville, TN: Carl Van Vechten Gallery of Fine Arts, Fisk University, 1973). Exhibition catalog. 8. Diane F. Johnson, ed., Washington: Twenty Years (Baltimore: Baltimore Museum of Art, 1970), 29–37. Young also participated in the 1969 Maryland Regional exhibition at the Baltimore Museum of Art. He had solo exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in 1974 and the University of Louisville in 1985. 9. Jacob Kainen, Kenneth Young (Washington, D.C.: Franz Bader Gallery, 1968). Exhibition announcement. 10. Bond, “Art Is an Old Man’s Game.” 11. Barbara Rose, “Black Art in America,” Art in America 58, no. 5 (October 1970): 54–67. 12. Rose, “Black Art in America,” 54. 13. Richard Franklin, “Structure as Drawing—Analysis and Expression,” in Richard Franklin: Recent Works, 1977–1979 (Seoul, South Korea: National Museum of Modern Art, 1979). Exhibition catalog. 14. The scale and spare spatial structure of Moonstruck, with its attached twigs, are reprised in Franklin’s Wallendas in Flight (2016) now on exhibit at the U.S. Consulate in Hong Kong under the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program.
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Ulysses Marshall Storytelling through Art BY ERIC KEY Ulysses Marshall in his home, 2018
Over the past 33 years as an art administrator, I’ve spoken
families. They did not encourage young Marshall to be an artist.
with more artists than I can mention, and they’ve all related
They were too busy protecting him and his two sisters from the
different journeys to becoming an artist. Some artists practiced
harsh conditions of a segregated rural South.
their art as young children, drawing stick figures or creating
images from their imagination or their everyday experiences.
His first experiences came from his grandmother Gussie Beverly,
Some were supported and encouraged by their parents, who
who lived just a few blocks from his parents’ residence. As a
enrolled them in art classes and provided them with art sup-
child, Marshall spent much of his time with her, often spending
plies. Some have even said that they were simply born with the
the night at her house after his grandfather died, and he remem-
gene to produce art. Maryland artist Ulysses Marshall followed
bers her as a storyteller and quilt maker. To make her quilts, she
a different route toward becoming an artist, his talent waiting
cut up clothes of different patterns and materials into various
to be unleashed.
geometrical shapes. She stored the pieces in a bag and later
assembled them, piece by piece, until she had a patch quilt.
Marshall was born on June 17, 1946, in Cordele, Georgia,
Marshall was introduced to art unwittingly through craft.
to Ulysses and Josephine Marshall. Neither of his parents fin-
Marshall watched this process and was inspired to try his hand
ished high school or had any formal experiences or knowledge
at sewing, attempting to make a shirt. He did not understand
of the visual arts. His father worked in the local lumber mill,
then that he was playing with a basic form of art making and
and his mother worked as domestic help for a number of white
developing his creative skills.
14 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Ulysses Marshall, Almost on Freedom Land, 2015, mixed media, 42 x 32 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection
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Another early introduction to art came during Marshall’s
reminded Marshall of his grandmother as she stitched her quilts.
play time. With wood scraps from the lumber company his
As Marshall digested the content of de Kooning’s work, he
father worked at, he made wooden trucks and horses to play
decided that he was truly going to be an artist.
with. Although there were no art classes in his high school,
students were taught industrial arts, such as woodwork. In his
of Art (MICA), and in 1973 he was recommended for the pres-
woodshop class, Marshall learned to make furniture such as
tigious Yale painting program. However, this recommendation
dressers, which he enjoyed staining.
was rescinded after an art professor advocated for a different
student. Instead Marshall attended the Whitney Independent
Although Marshall believes that everybody has the ability
In 1970 Marshall enrolled in the Maryland Institute College
to make art, he did not recognize that ability in himself until
Study Program in New York from 1973 to 1974.
his college days. After serving in the 173rd Airborne Brigade
in Vietnam from 1964 to 1966, he enrolled in Albany State
program that year led to some challenges as well as some
College (now Albany State University) in Georgia under the
benefits. At that time, Marshall’s paintings were free formed
GI Bill. He majored in sociology for three years. However, he
and colorful, containing cultural references such as African
spent so much time auditing art classes that the head of the
American imagery, as shown in an untitled painting from 1974.
art department, Joo-Yon Ohm-Cederberg, who became his
The painting, depicting an African American male, was charac-
mentor and friend, suggested he change his major.
teristic of Marshall’s works, in which he used his experiences
as the backdrop. In many respects, Marshall’s works centered
Even after becoming an art major, Marshall did not have the
Being the only African American student in the Whitney
confidence to think of himself as an artist. It was not until he vis-
around content—of African American life in the rural South—
ited the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, that he
verses technique. His professors in the Whitney program were
accepted his calling. In the museum, he came upon an abstract
accustomed to grading work on technique and color theory;
expressionist painting by Willem de Kooning titled Woman 1.
they were at a loss in trying to provide feedback on his execu-
The painting, of a ghostly, abstract woman in a seated position,
tion of African American content.
ABOVE: Ulysses Marshall, Man Child, 1977, acrylic on paper,
30 x 22 inches LEFT: Ulysses Marshall, Mamanina, 2010, acrylic paper doll
on canvas, 48 x 36 inches
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Ulysses Marshall, One Voice, 2018, acrylic paper doll on canvas, 48 x 36 inches
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Ulysses Marshall, Strange Fruit, 2014, mixed media, 48 x 47¾ inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection, Gift of the artist
18 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Ulysses Marshall, Between Lovers, 1985, acrylic on canvas, 45 x 51 inches
However, as Marshall developed his painting skills, he
gained confidence in his artistic ability and became more independent as an artist. He drew inspiration for his subject matter from Alain Locke, who encouraged African American artists to use their experiences as their muse in creating art. Locke believed “that the Negro theme in art is of greater historical and cultural importance to the race than the relatively recent resumption of creative production on the part of race artists” and “deemed it necessary to convey an impressive documentation of the Negro subject.”1 Marshall, who returned to MICA in the spring of 1974 to receive his BFA, stated, “I think artists are a messenger of their culture, and I don’t want our history to perish.”
Marshall’s Afrocentric paintings document his experiences
of life in the rural South, family, history, and community. In many
Ulysses Marshall, Water to Cool My Soul, 2015, mixed media, 42 x 32 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection, Gift of the artist
ways, his works are tapestries like his grandmother’s quilts. He spreads colors, found objects, newspaper clippings, and pieces
him at Albany State. (Ohm-Cenderberg told his students, “If you
of cloth to recreate his stories on canvas. The works are mixed-
can breathe, then the work is finished. If you feel tension within
media paintings that create a feeling of time and place. He also
your body, then the work is not finished.”)
uses colors to draw the viewer into the work. Some of his works
incorporate the dynamic relationship between a mother and
wants people to understand his cultural experiences in hopes
child or a father and son. Others incorporate elements of jazz
that they will recover and discover theirs. He wants them to be
and blues, such as in his recent works Almost on Freedom Land
motivated to learn about aspects of American history through
(2015) and Water to Cool My Soul (2015). All are creations
his cultural experiences. Marshall says that, as an African
of stories and an act of storytelling, which he learned from his
American painter, he creates works that are more than just
grandmother. These works become a way for him to share
pretty paintings: they are “our history.”
Marshall wants viewers to see themselves in his work. He
his reflections on a period of his life when times were rough but also included aspects of perseverance, growth, pride, and beauty. Marshall visualizes his concepts in his head but allows the story to take shape as he is painting. He never knows what the finished product will be until it is complete—or, as he says, “until I can breathe”—a technique that Ohm-Cederberg taught
Notes 1. James A. Porter, review of The Negro in Art. A Pictorial Record of the Negro Artist and of the Negro Theme in Art, ed. Alain Locke, Journal of African American History 26, no. 2 (April 1941): 261–65.
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BY JON WEST-BEY
Richmond, Virginia On June 2, the UMUC Arts Program went on its annual bus trip to experience the arts in other communities. This year, 28 arts enthusiasts joined the Arts Program staff on a daylong trip to various art venues in Richmond, Virginia.
Richmond has established itself as a hub for some of
the region’s most creative young artists. Its vibrant arts scene includes galleries, museums, murals, and countless art events.
We began the day with a delicious breakfast in the Leroy
Merritt Center for the Art of Joseph Sheppard and then set off for Richmond. Once our group arrived at Virginia Commonwealth University’s new Institute for Contemporary Art (ICA), a noncol-
with the VMFA’s curator of modern and contemporary art, Valerie Cassel Oliver. The group viewed the museum’s recent acquisitions as well as its current exhibitions.
Our last event was a live painting demonstration by
abstract artist Khalid Thompson at C’est Le Vin, a wine bar in the historic Shockoe Bottom District. Thompson painted an abstract piece to an accompaniment provided by DJ Mike Kemetic. The artist also gave a brief talk and answered questions from the audience.
After a full day, we returned to UMUC before nightfall,
full of artistic inspiration from all the wonderful art, food, and culture that Richmond has to offer.
lecting museum that opened in April of this year and presents contemporary art exhibitions and public and educational programs, we were treated to an artist talk with muralist Hamilton Glass. Glass has more than a dozen murals all over the city, and he discussed his process and the content of his work as well as his connection to Richmond.
We then toured the ICA’s three floors of exhibitions, includ-
ing its inaugural exhibition Declaration, an exploration by artists of varied generations, backgrounds, and perspectives of issues facing Richmond and the world.
Next was a visit to the studio of painter S. Ross Browne.
Brown is a professional studio artist who has exhibited in more than 70 gallery and museum exhibitions in the United States and overseas. He gave a presentation about his work and his process.
Our next stop was Croaker’s Spot, a local favorite for
fresh seafood. After lunch and dessert, we enjoyed a special guided tour of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA) by artist Martin Remy. We were even treated to a brief meeting
20 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
The inaugural exhibition, Declaration, at Virginia Commonwealth University’s new Institute for Contemporary Art
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: abstract artist Khalid Thompson creates an impromptu artwork to the drum and bass music provided by DJ Mike Kemetic; Storm in the Time of Shelter, 2014–18, by Paul Rucker; S. Ross Browne shares his paintings and studio space; diptych painting Gamine Nserewa, 2017, by S. Ross Browne; ICA education coordinator Caroline Legros describes the inspiration behind Sonya Clark’s 2018 Edifice and Mortar
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NEWS AND EVENTS Reception Highlights
To one of the largest crowds at an opening
reception for the courthouse exhibits, Judge Messitte introduced Eric Key, director of the
THE CAMERA AND
THREE LENSES
UMUC Arts Program, who in turn introduced the curator, Jon West-Bey. West-Bey presented two of the artists, who spoke about the inspiration behind their images. Dooley explained that her works explore and play with colors, textures, and shapes to tell her story as a Jamaican artist now living and working in Washington, D.C. McNeil, also a Washington,
The Camera and Three Lenses exhibition
D.C., artist, talked about how he manipulates
was curated by the UMUC Arts Program
the photographic process to demonstrate the
especially for the U.S. District Courthouse for
poetic and lyrical beauty of our natural world
the District of Maryland as a way to educate
and its people. Anderson, who uses simple
and reach a segment of our community that
black-and-white photography as a way to speak
might not have an opportunity to visit the
about rural life in the South, was not able to at-
galleries at UMUC. A major proponent for the
tend the reception, so Key spoke on his behalf.
arts, Judge Peter Messitte continues to insist
As West-Bey stated, “The photographers use
that the public spaces at the courthouse be
their life experience and mastery of the camera
used to highlight the arts. The Camera and
to produce images that make the viewers
Three Lenses consisted of the creative photog-
think, wonder, and smile.” Viewers were able to
raphy of William Anderson, Mignonette Dooley,
explore three floors of photography by these
and Bruce McNeil. All use the camera lens to
three amazing artists.
detail some aspect of American culture.
Reception attendees gather on the lower level of the U.S. District Courthouse for refreshments before exploring the artists’ photographic works.
“The photographers use their life experience and mastery of the camera to produce images that make the viewers think, wonder, and smile.” JON WEST-BEY CURATOR, ARTS PROGRAM
CLOCKWISE FROM ABOVE: Callas by
Mignonette Dooley; William Anderson’s Checker Players; photographers Bruce McNeil (left) and Mignonette Dooley (right) at the opening reception; The Docent by Bruce McNeil
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NEWS AND EVENTS Call for Entries MARYLAND HIGH SCHOOL
JURIED ART EXHIBITION
Upcoming Events RHYTHMIC IMPULSES: THE ART OF FLOYD COLEMAN AND HAYWARD OUBRE
The UMUC Arts Program invites entries for the Maryland High School Juried Art Exhibition.
UMUC Arts Program Gallery, Lower Level September 30, 2018–January 20, 2019
The exhibition will run from February 3 to
Opening Reception and Artist Talk
May 12, 2019, in the UMUC Arts Program
Sunday, October 7, 2018, 3–5 p.m.
Gallery in Adelphi, Maryland.
This exhibition will include about 40 paintings by Floyd Coleman and 25 large-scale wire sculptures by Hayward Oubre. As a fulltime art professor for more than 60 years, Coleman had little time to promote his visual art career and is best known for his essays on African and African American art. Although he has exhibited in major museums and galleries around the world, this will be his first major exhibition in many years. Oubre, Coleman’s mentor, was an award-winning printmaker, painter, and sculptor. He taught at various universities in the South until 1980 and continued working on his art until his death in 2006. Mervin Anthony Green, Oubre’s son-in-law and heir, will join Coleman at the opening reception to discuss the works in the exhibition.
The competition is open to all Maryland
state high school students. Each school may submit a maximum of five entries, from five different student artists. For each of these student artists, one original work of art in painting, sculpture, drawing, printmaking, fiber, glass, ceramics, wood, metal, photography, graphic design, or mixed media may be submitted. There is no entry fee.
The jurors will select roughly 45 works
Hayward Oubre Young Horse On loan from Tony Green
from throughout Maryland for the exhibition.
Jurors for the exhibition will be
■
Joan Bevelaqua, Artist and
Collegiate Professor, UMUC
MARYLAND HIGH SCHOOL JURIED ART EXHIBITION
■
Christopher Harrington, Artist and Chair,
UMUC Arts Program Gallery, Lower Level
Department of Fine Arts, University of
February 3–May 12, 2019
Maryland Eastern Shore
■
Preston Sampson, Artist An opening reception for the exhibition will
be held on Sunday, February 17, 2019. Monetary awards and a trophy, plaque, and certificate will be presented to the first-, second-, and third-place winners (only one award winner per school). In addition, the artwork of the first-place award winner will be featured on a poster, which
Floyd Coleman Gonna End the War
Opening Reception February 17, 2019, 3–5 p.m. Featuring works in all mediums by high school artists from Maryland, the Maryland High School Juried Art Exhibition is the jewel among statewide visual arts competitions. Each high school will present its best-of-the-best artwork, from which the jurors will select roughly 45 pieces to represent the finest student artwork from across the state. Three respected art professionals will serve as jurors: artist and UMUC Collegiate Professor Joan Bevelaqua, artist and University of Maryland Eastern Shore Fine Arts Department Chair Christopher Harrington, and artist Preston Sampson. Award winners will speak about their work and be presented with their awards at the opening reception.
will be distributed to as many Maryland schools as possible. The poster will also be featured on the UMUC Arts Program website, along with
SAVE THE DATE: TRIP TO CUBA
pictures of the student and his or her teacher.
For the Cuba Arts Biennial
An image of the first-place artwork will appear
April 13–20, 2019
on the exhibition brochure and invitation. Submission Deadline: November 15, 2018
Contact the Arts Program at 301-985-7937 for details. Space will be limited, so e-mail arts@umuc.edu to put your name on the mailing list for more information.
For more information about the Maryland High School Juried Art Exhibition, visit umuc.edu/art, call 301-985-7937, or e-mail Eric Key at
Get the latest updates on the UMUC Arts Program. Visit umuc.edu/art/newsonline.
eric.key@umuc.edu.
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art@UMUC
23
Make an Annual Contribution to the Arts Program Art enthusiasts in the UMUC community help make the university’s visual arts exhibitions, educational lectures, book signings, symposiums, and meet-the-artist receptions possible. Through the Friends of the Arts
FRIENDS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
program, our biggest supporters enjoy a variety of benefits as a thank-you for helping UMUC’s Arts Program become one of the most recognized in Maryland. Simply commit to making an annual contribution at one of the following levels and you can join our growing list of friends.
Associate ($35) Name recognition in the arts newsletter, invitation to exhibition openings
Friend ($50) Above benefits, plus 10 percent discount on specialty items produced by the Arts Program, 10 percent discount on tickets to nonfundraising events, Arts Program lapel pin
Bronze-Level Friend ($100)
FRIENDS OF THE ARTS (JANUARY 15, 2017–JULY 1, 2018) Sapphire-Level Friends
Michael J. Batza Jr. Henry A. Rosenberg Jr. Wolpoff Family Foundation
Platinum-Level Friends
Michael Abrams Joan Burke Bevelaqua Jere and Bonnie N. Broh-Kahn Robert L. Caret and Elizabeth Zoltan Gwendolyn B. Clark Leo A. Daly III Nina Dwyer Michèle E. Jacobs and Joseph V. Bowen Jr. Eric Key Anne V. Maher and Peter V. R. Franchot Ragan Royal Christopher A. Shields Stephen Stein Michael S. Tenner
Gold-Level Friends
Above benefits, plus autographed poster from the Arts Program collection
Lisa Anne Jackson Joan W. Lee
Silver-Level Friend ($250)
Silver-Level Friends
Above benefits, plus name recognition on the donors' wall in the Arts Program Gallery
Gold-Level Friend ($500) Above benefits, plus full-color art catalog from a major UMUC art exhibition
Platinum-Level Friend ($1,000) Above benefits, plus VIP invitation to dinner with the guest artist and the university president, 10 percent discount at The Common (the restaurant at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center at UMUC)
Citrine-Level Friend ($2,500) Above benefits, plus corporate name and logo listing on UMUC Arts Program webpage, name and logo listing on all printed materials for exhibitions and public relations materials for the season
Sapphire-Level Friend ($5,000) Above benefits, plus a corporate art exhibition by a local artist coordinated by UMUC (Special requirements apply; see umuc.edu/art for details.)
Visit umuc.edu/art and click on “Friends of the Arts Program” or call 301-985-7937. Interested in being added to our e-magazine list? Send your e-mail address to arts@umuc.edu. 24 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE
Elmer A. Mendez William T. Mitchell Terrie S. Rouse
Bronze-Level Friends
James T. Brady Tracey Brown Harriette E. Chiavacci LaTanya Eggleston Blair and Alice Hayes
Gift-in-Kind Donors
Michael Abrams James A. Adkins Nicholas H. and Eva J. Allen Kwabena Ampofo-Anti Stephen and Carolyn Aoyama John and Doris Babcock Karin Batten Gwendolyn B. Clark Kevin E. Cole Loring Cornish Sandra Cryder David C. Driskell David R. Durfee Sr. Nina Dwyer Graham Holding Company William A. Harris Winston Kain Harris Curlee Horton Margo Humphrey Sherry Jackson
Theresa M. Lesko Denise Melvin John L. Milton Vannesia D. Morgan-Smith Bettye J. Robertson William C. Robinson Lynn Sylvester Lydia Christina Waddler Joan O. Weiss Denise Welch Lesliee S. Whitfield Starlene Williams Sharon A. Wolpoff
Friends
Floyd Coleman Galerie Myrtis Beverly A. Gray Anthony Lee Yoshiko Oishi Weick
Associates
Gregory Branch Vrinda D. Buchwald Elizabeth B. Duncan John S. Fortt Sergio N. Fresco James Harrigan Eric C. Helfers Kevin G. Herndon John E. Hodges Philip F. Koch John and Jill A. Lion Flavia M. Moskaitis Charlotte E. Pointer Jacqueline K. Randolph Michael Aaron Richmond Elliott Stubbs Marilyn B. Wassmann Joseph M. Williams
Cynthia F. Johnson Julian S. Jones Eric Key Matthew Klos Philip F. Koch Ulysses Marshall Wanda Spence McDow Anne McLaughlin Trace Miller Tunde Odunlade Kathryn O’Grady Katja Oxman Constance Pitcher Preston W. Sampson Lucy Schoenfeld Joseph Sheppard Stephen Stein Noi Volkov Sharon A. Wolpoff Helen Zughaib