Editions 2023: 10 Artists

December 11th, 2022 - January 21st, 2023

Editions 2023: 10 Artists introduces recent additions to the New Door Creative annual fine print offering. The inter-generational collection of relief prints, monoprints, and serigraphs showcases a wide range that includes rare prints by David C. Driskell and Faith Ringgold in dialogue with the work of emerging and mid-career artists/printmakers. The subject matter explores mythology, universal principles, expressive landscape, and cultural narratives.  Included is the Faith Ringgold serigraph “DEAR SELMA,” a dedication to a little-known story of Harlem Renaissance sculptor Selma Burke. Burke was the designer of the FDR portrait for the United States dime minted in 1946. 

Works by Faith Ringgold and David C. Driskell

FAITH RINGGOLD

Faith Ringgold grew up in New York City's Harlem. While still in high school, she decided to be an artist. She attended City College of New York, receiving B.S. (1955) and M.A. (1959) degrees. In the mid-1950’s she began teaching art in New York public schools.

By the 1960s, her work had matured, reflecting her burgeoning political consciousness, the study of African arts and history, and appreciation for the freedom of form used by her young students. In 1963 Ringgold began a body of paintings called the American People Series, which portrays the civil rights movement from a female perspective. Ringgold frequently lectured at feminist art conferences and actively sought the racial integration of the New York art world.

Among Ringgold's most renowned works, her “story quilts” were inspired by Tibetan thangkas that she viewed while visiting museums in Amsterdam. She painted these quilts with narrative images and original stories set in the context of African American history. Her mother frequently collaborated with her on these. Examples of this work include “Who's Afraid of Aunt Jemima?” (1984), “Sonny's Quilt” (1986), and “Tar Beach” (1988), which Ringgold adapted into a children's book in 1991. The latter book was named Caldecott Honor Book in 1992, and tells of a young black girl in New York City who dreams about flying.

in the artist's own words...

As a little girl growing up in Harlem, I was always encouraged to value who I was and to go after what I want. Ever since I was young, I've always had a need to express my ideas through art. Being an artist and a writer of children's books is a fulfillment of my lifelong ambition…

I became an artist for the same reason I became a writer - I wanted to tell my story.

DAVID C. DRISKELL

David C. Driskell’s active career as a practicing artist, teacher, curator, collector, art administrator, and art consultant is unparalleled. His reputation as an artist pre-dates his often more widely acknowledged reputation as a scholar of African American art and culture.  The recipient of the National Humanities Medal in 2000, David Driskell has demonstrated an extended professional life of art-making in devotion to a canon and cultural aesthetic largely defined by his creative and intellectual influence. His creative works are included in major international collections. As an author and scholar, Driskell has contributed significant publications to the subject of African American art, and received numerous fellowships, awards, and prizes; including three Rockefeller Foundation Fellowships.

As a champion for the advancement of African American art and its place within the canon of American art,  David C. Driskell made our lives richer by understanding and promoting an unwritten history of African Americans.

Learn More Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1KioozYB0U (courtesy of NPR News Hour and the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.)

Please contact gallery for further information at newdoorcreative@gmail.com or 410 244 8244.

On view are monoprints and monotypes by Sheila Crider (originator of the term ‘blackstraction,’[1]) selected from two distinct series.  Three palette versions of “Walking in Two Worlds” by painter/curator Cheryl Edwards and “Calendar” multiples by glass sculptor/painter Acquaetta Williams elevate perceptions of contour and spirit relative to the human form.

Several works featured in Editions 2023 were published by Raven Editions with master printer Curlee Holton.   One noted work is Richard Mayhew’s “Landscape for Bob” which demonstrates the artist’s sensibility for divining worlds of timeless panoramic hue.  In addition, the rich palettes of Mary Ann Miller’s multiple-process and “feng shui” inspired “Release I,” Joseph Holston’s etching “Man in Boat,” and Danny Simmons’ “Deeper Desire” series are alluring highlights to the collection, mediated by expert and experimental craftsmanship.

1]blackstraction (blak-strak’ sh-n) n. 1. the objectification of painting 2. an emotive non-representational work of art stressing formal internal relationships using African/American/Asian art practices at times employing craft techniques and three-dimensional presentation. blackstractionist n. an artist engaging therein.

Ongoing viewings by appointment.