Over 200 people attended the Opening Reception for the 22nd annual African American Art Show and Sale presented by Morris Arts’ grantee, Art in the Atrium, Inc. on January 24th, 2014 from 5-9pm. Located on floors 2-5 of the Morris County Administration & Records Building, this year’s exhibit features renowned artist, James Denmark, whose collages, watercolors and woodcuts are in high demand throughout the art world and are found in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. A delightful and inspiring evening, the opening reception offered a chance to meet artists, view the art, hear James Denmark’s inspiring remarks (captured in Kevin Coughlin’s MorristownGreen.com article), enjoy the DJ’s music, and sample a delicious buffet (catered by Martin Little Catering and graciously served by Delta Sigma Theta alumnae)!
Celebrating the civil rights struggle and commemorating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, this exhibit runs from January 24th through March 14th. The title of the exhibition, is “Your Crown has Been Bought and Paid For…..,’’ a quote from African-American author James Baldwin. The second line is “… All you have to do it wear it.’’
“The theme celebrates the struggles we’ve been through and the efforts of civil rights workers,” says Victoria Craig, director of administration for Art in the Atrium.
Watercolors and collages by the exhibition’s featured artist, James Denmark of South Carolina, fill the entire 5th floor. Works by nearly 30 other top African-American artists, including Leroy Campbell, Maceo Mitchell, Bisa Butler, Janet Taylor Pickett, Sandra Smith, Dwight Carter and Alonzo Adams, fill floors 2-4. Additionally, this year’s show features the works of Andre Woolery, a Morristown High School graduate, who was named one of 40 African-American Artists to Watch in 2014 by the MSNBC website,theGrio.com, which features news for African-Americans. Works by Newark artist Jerry Gant, who is also on theGrio.com‘s list, are included in the exhibit as well.
Art in the Atrium’s annual exhibition, which showcases the work of African-American artists, is the largest of its kind in New Jersey. “It really helps to expand people’s idea of what African-American art can be,” says Craig. “We have works in all mediums and genres. It’s not just figurative paintings with a mask in them.” The non-profit organization began in 1992 after Craig’s husband, attorney Charles Craig, noticed that none of the art work exhibited in the Morris County Administration building was by African-American artists. Art in the Atrium was formed to mount an exhibition of black artists and has expanded to include other events such as seminars, jazz brunches and collectors’ workshops. The first exhibition was held on the second floor, but now, art work is displayed throughout the building.
In addition to its other programs, Art in the Atrium co-sponsors artist residencies in the Morris School District that benefit between 200 to 500 students each year. It also awards an annual scholarship to a student artist, whose work is often exhibited in the show.
Above: James Denmark’s Sheer Elegance.
James Denmark
James Denmark was born in Winter Haven, Florida on March 23, 1936 into a family of Artists. He was exposed to color and form at an early age by his grandmother, a wire sculptor and quilt artist, by his grandfather, a bricklayer noted for his unique custom design molds and his mother who was gifted with an intuitive feeling for design and a fastidiousness for detail which she expressed in all aspects of her daily life. This rich beginning is the root of James Denmark’s creative expression.
He attended Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) in Tallahassee, Florida on a sports scholarship. While pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Art at FAMU, Denmark came under the tutelage of the artist and acclaimed African-American art historian, Dr. Samella Lewis, who exposed him to great traditions and accomplishments of the African-American art movement. After graduating from FAMU, Denmark moved to Brooklyn and began a career as an art teacher in the public school system.
From 1973 to 1976, Denmark earned his Master of Fine Art Degree at the prestigious Pratt Institute of Fine Art in New York. While at Pratt, Denmark met and was nurtured by an immensely talented community of artists. During this period he was heavily influenced by such abstract expressionists as Jackson Pollack, Clifford Still, Willem de Kooning. The African-American Masters Norman Lewis, Romare Bearden, Jacob Lawrence, and Ernest Crichlow instilled in him an appreciation of his African-American artistic heritage. He began experimenting with collage. Prior to this period, he worked primarily in watercolors and charcoal.
Denmark has a natural affinity for the difficult and largely improvisational medium of collage and quickly developed his own unique and easily identifiable style. With brightly hand colored papers, found papers, fabric and objects, Denmark creates compositions that go beyond the superficial and transitory and focuses, instead, on what is eternal and universal.
Denmark’s collages, watercolors, woodcuts and reproductions are consistently and eagerly sought after by galleries and collectors worldwide. His level of acclaim is reflected in the number of prestigious collections in which is works are represented most notable that of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
James and his wife, Ethel now enjoy living in rural Yemassee, South Carolina.
Denmark’s website ~ http://lowcountryartshop.com/
Morris Arts manages the Atrium Art Gallery, selecting artists and scheduling exhibits on behalf of the Morris County Board of Chosen Freeholders. The Atrium Gallery is free and open to the public during business hours, from 8am – 5pm on Mondays-Fridays. The exhibit will run from January 24 – March 14, 2014. For additional information about the show, visit www.artintheatrium.org or contact Dr. Lynn L. Siebert, Gallery Director, and Director of Arts Participation & Communication for Morris Arts, (973) 285-5115, ext. 10 or Lsiebert@morrisarts.org.
Reception photos:
L-R: Artists and their works: James Denmark with Midnight Session; Bisa Butler with her art quilt, inawordfab; Jerry Gant with his work, Metal with Red Hat (photo by Kevin Coughlin, MorristownGreen.com).
L-R: Stephen Ellis with his painting of Serena Williams (photo by Kevin Coughlin, MorristownGreen.com); Ceaphus Stubbs with his work, Sincerely Deceitful (photo by Kevin Coughlin, MorristownGreen.com); Andre Woolery’s painting, Ali (Trust the Code).
L-R: Amira Feldman with her mom, Morristown Councilwoman Rebecca Feldman; Fascinated crowd at James Denmark’s presentation; Art in the Atrium Organizer Viki Craig with her granddaughter Victoria Charleigh and daugher Simone.
L-R: Kimmy Cantrell’s sculpture, What If? Bisa Butler’s art quilt, Paris is Burning, for Josephine Baker; Leroy Campbell’s Wisdom; James Denmark’s Royal Heritage.
Media Coverage:
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014301240023
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/19/nyregion/events-in-new-jersey-for-jan-19-25-2014.html?_r=0
http://morristown.patch.com/groups/events/p/art-in-the-atrium-opening-reception
http://livemorristown.wordpress.com/
http://www.topix.com/wire/city/morristown-nj