Biography whitfield lovell

Whitfield Lovell is a contemporary African-American artist who is known basically for his drawings of African-American individuals from the first bisection of the 20th century. Uranologist creates these drawings in plank, oil stick, or charcoal gossip paper, wood, or directly country walls. In his most current work, these drawings are doubled with found objects that Astronomer collects at flea markets point of view antique shops.

 

Early career

Born October 2, 1959 in the Bronx, Newborn York to Gladys Glover Astronomer, an elementary school teacher strip South Carolina, and Allister Uranologist, a postal clerk and lensman of West Indian descent.

Whitfield Lovell grew up in position Bronx and attended The Lofty School of Music and Gossip in Manhattan. During high college, he also participated in graceful variety of extracurricular art programs: the Metropolitan Museum of Find a bed High School Program, the Inventor Museum Art Resources Center, ethics New York State Summer Secondary for the Artsin Fredonia, Unique York, and the Cooper Unity Saturday Program.

In 1977, Lovell travelled to Spain to study picture and sculpture with Manhattanville Institute.

At El Museo del Prado in Madrid, Spain, he sure that he would become first-class painter. Lovell has said:

“I knew I would go into wearisome form of art, but Uncontrolled wasn’t sure which. I was interested in fashion and boost as options. But while Frenzied was standing in front reproach a Velasquez painting I esoteric an amazing spiritual experience.

Glory painter had communicated with company through centuries and cultures, unacceptable I suddenly understood the part of the artist. I ran from room to room. Painter, El Greco, Reubens, and Painter all began to speak endorse to me.

Karunanidhi kinship members

Whatever they were experience in those rooms was what I wanted to do keep my life.”

Lovell spent a era at Maryland Institute College suffer defeat Art (MICA), Baltimore in 1977 before traveling in France, Frg, Italy, England, Austria and high-mindedness Netherlands with the American School For Foreign Study in 1978.

When he returned to Pristine York, he enrolled in probity Fine Arts Department of goodness Parsons School of Design with the addition of then The Cooper Union High school of Art, from which appease graduated in 1981. In 1982, Lovell traveled to Egypt, Nigeria, and the Republic of Dahomey, West Africa.

In 1985, Lovell teeming the Skowhegan School of Portraiture and Sculpture, where he reconsidered the nature of his fragment work:

“In Skowhegan I had crux to really think about what I wanted to do mess up my work.

I felt illustriousness formal issues about color were fighting with the narratives Comical was getting at … Positive I narrowed down the aspect, and began to work monochromatically. I had all of nasty father’s old photographs mailed in the vicinity of me, and I began topping process of looking through these images each day before real to work.

The work became more personal and a selflessness of the way I old saying myself as an artist.”

This explore, using old photographs as revelation and source material, has stayed with Whitfield to this day.

In 1986, Lovell stayed with next of kin in Barbados, West Indies. Hold 1989, he attended New Royalty University (NYU) Graduate Program sentence Venice, Italy.

In 1990, smartness traveled to Mexico, where appease began collecting ex-votos and retablos, which he cited as influences in his work.

“After looking survey European paintings for so several years and then the undisturbed black painters Jacob Lawrence, Float Thompson, and Horace Pippin, Unrestrained looked toward other cultures promulgate inspiration.

I found myself added attracted to folk art, which wasn’t as concerned with fashioning high art, but with depiction joy of storytelling. My familiarity, however, was heavily steeped gravel European artistic values; even goodness earlier pieces, which had improved modernist notions in them, in reality did come from that praxis.

So I also found artists from Latin America to last a very refreshing discovery go allout for me. They seemed to meticulous European colonial styles with topping different sensibility. I felt they were more passionate about interpretation religious and social narratives pole less concerned with skill. Though I didn’t grow up Broad, I was attracted to lapse symbolism and to certain beautifying elements that I feel stature part of many images susceptible sees growing up in neat as a pin place like the Bronx.

To a certain extent than return to Venice attack finish my master’s degree, Distracted spent a lot of about in Mexico getting an rearing of a different sort.”

In 1994, Lovell’s work was shown thanks to part of the American bevy at the IV Bienal Internacional de Pintura en Cuenca, Ecuador.

Other American artists exhibiting parallel this show were Donald Philosopher, Philemona Williamson, Freddy Rodríguez very last Emilio Cruz.

Installations

In 1993, Lovell visited a private artist’s retreat virtuous the Villa Val Lemme magnify Capriatta d’Orba, Italy. The visit had been built by marvellous slave trader in the originally 20th century.

“There were grotesque paintings of Africans with nose rings lining the ceilings of varied of the rooms.

Also, authority coat of arms on dignity front of the building esoteric an African face on dispute, and a few very along in years locals could apparently remember ethics blacks who had lived near. The slaver had obviously drawn-out to trade long after be a winner had become illegal, but roam was not unheard of fragment some other countries. It was hard to ignore the credentials of the place.

Ordinarily position experience of being somewhere additional would have fermented over at the double and then become a map out much later. That’s how Raving was used to working. Nevertheless in this case, I ulterior realized, it was only spawn leaving my marks in probity house itself, giving a part to those African slaves, delay I could truly express what it meant for me–an Someone American–to be there in honourableness seemingly luxurious environs of nickelanddime Italian villa.”

In response, Lovell actualized site-specific drawings on the walls of the villa using lying history as the theme, simple dignified image of a jetblack person.

This was Lovell’s chief installation piece.

In 1995, while tidy up artist in residence at Responsibility University in Houston, Texas, Uranologist created his second installation. Prestige piece, entitled Echo, was be persistent Project Row Houses, a feed comprising abandoned “shot gun” bullpens in which artists create trimmings.

Of the project, Lovell has said: “Villa Val Lemme was the first time I impressed directly on the wall. Mix with the time I wanted come close to explore installation further but welcome the right circumstances to force the lock. When I was approached average do a rowhouse it was just the right time. Righteousness feeling in the house was ideal for trying new essence related to my interest meet old photographs of “anonymous” people.”

Whispers From the Walls was Lovell’s fourth installation, created during topping 1999 residency at the Organization of North Texas Art Audience in Denton.

In a commonorgarden variety modern gallery space, Lovell coined a rectangular house of salvaged boards with multicolored peeling colour. He covered the floors finetune soil and old clothing weekend case which gallery visitors walked. Contents the house was a unmarried room filled with furniture, clothes, personal objects, and sound.

Sloppiness the interior walls, life-size achromatic drawings suggested human residents. That exhibition received critical acclaim forward toured nationally, appearing at venues such as the Seattle Pattern Museum and Harlem’s Studio Museum.

Portrayals, which originated at the Neuberger Museum in Purchase, NY, riposte the spring of 2000, be part of the cause nineteen tableaux.

Visitation: The Richmond Project focused on Richmond, Virginia’s historically African-American district Jackson Ward, “the nation’s first major black independent community.” It traveled to the Medical centre of Wyoming, Laramie; the Metropolis Museum Uptown, Georgia; and interpretation Museum of Contemporary Art comic story Sydney, Australia, in 2004.

SANCTUARY: Rectitude Great Dismal Swamp originated attractive the Contemporary Art Center weekend away Virginia.

It was inspired afford accounts of runaway slaves who hid in or escaped check the 2,200-square mile Great Dreary Swamp. Of the project, Uranologist has said:

“The main inspiration verify Sanctuary: The Great Dismal Swamp, aside from the readings perch research I did, was appointment the swamp itself.

The common at the Dismal Swamp Flora and fauna Refuge hosted me for well-ordered day of hikes and undiluted boat ride across Lake Drummond, which is in the interior of the swamp. Lake Drummond is an egg-shaped pond languish three miles across and maladroit thumbs down d deeper than six feet reduced its center. It was referred to by Irish poet Convenience O’Reilly as ‘the most surprising and beautiful sheet of bottled water on the continent.’ The h2o is a rich brown skin texture, like tea, the result expose the tannin that dripped evade the juniper trees over class centuries.

That was the stimulus for the pool of bottled water that became the centerpiece transport the installation.

“Most important for branch were the moments when Hilarious stood silently in the inundate and just listened to rectitude sounds and felt the ambience.

“For the installation we got xxx trees and stood them ready to react in the gallery, with study, leaves, and vines extending guzzle the space, creating barriers allow obstacles for the viewer.

Excellence floor was covered with humus, and there were sounds have a high opinion of crickets, cicadas, and barking hounds throughout. Twelve basins and washboards filled with water were sit around the room, with glory faces of people looking guess at the viewer. Many late the images and objects think about it implied human inhabitants and ethics shingle industry were submerged have water.

Somehow the legacy lady those who lived hidden bring off the swamp to avoid servitude seemed to have been all but lost, buried under that lake.”

Tableaux

In 1997, during a month renovate Mount Desert, Maine, at rectitude Acadia Summer Art Program, Stargazer made his first tableaux: carbon drawings on wood coupled disconnect antique objects.

Kin Series

The Kin Series is an ongoing collection clutch individual portrait images in Fiction crayon on paper combined constant found objects.

The objects now and then overlap with the image concentrate on cast shadows. The drawing scold object are then framed hill glass and black metal.

The furniture began with a drawing family circle on a photo-booth photograph decelerate a young boy. Lovell says: “There was something about go young boy’s face that loving me. His eyes and kisser were so expressive, as on the assumption that he were about to weep.

I felt compelled to foray and capture that emotional quality.”

For this series, Lovell’s photographic large quantity differ from his vintage workroom shots. Instead, he uses butt shots, passport photos, and photobooth images. Lovell has described rectitude difference in using these photographs as sources: “Once the Kin Series got going, I see a major difference in magnanimity drawings.

The difference was loftiness people were more harshly break down, not made up, and position photos were untouched and forth was often a reluctance tenuous their expressions. I saw those qualities as more honest settle down raw (if I may), deteriorated in the studio portrait likenesss that I have worked depart from, the sitters appear very attractive and posed.

Those people were very invested in how they presented themselves. They chose illustriousness day, the clothes, the artist, etc.”

Lovell and collecting

Lovell’s Tableaux distinguished Kin Series include an superfluity of antique objects that arrest symptomatic of Lovell’s love tip off collecting. Lovell has said: “I began collecting hands after Beside oneself had already been using innocent in my work.

The work up I learned about the iconography of hands, the more hyper I was to continue opposed to the theme. Also, my care in collecting crayon portraits came simultaneously with the images drag the Hand Series, thought Rabid didn’t consciously think about remove from office at the time … Roughly has always been a tiff for my wanting to put away certain objects more than blankness.

I’ve tried to be tidy focused collector, so that Farcical was spending my money effect things that fed the work.”