Larry Richardson ~ Artist
www.aminaarts.com
Each image is a mixed media
collage on arches paper Framed
Each image is 33"
X 25"
Each image is $800 USD
or $2,200 USD for the triptych (all three imges)
Image #1 is Amina
Image #2 is Isa
Image #3 is Harbuu
Represented by BlackCommentator.com
For purchasing details
please contact
Larry Richardson at [email protected]
Artist Statement
Since I returned to painting
in 1995 I have wanted to express the beauty in our African
heritage. To show the diversity that the Diaspora gave
us in various other cultures in the world. I have tried
to present our culture as seen not only in the context
of the pain and suffering inflicted on us in the days
of slavery but to bring forward those cultural contributions,
and legacies we left in Spain, France, Italy and other
places of the world. Truly, that is what the Diaspora
was about... the dispersion of culture.
When looking at the many
histories on art and researching many of the famous
old masters, our image is present even in medieval times.
Anti-Black racism in the modern sense was unknown in
the Middle Ages; Blacks were simply part of the human
race.
In the latter Middle Ages
there were even black saints and one of the Magi was
accurately shown as black. Most literature on Black
American artists is approached as though it was a form
of expression separate from the so-called majority culture.
This critical isolation in terms of art comes from the
tradition of classifying people and their culture by
race. I feel the crucial issue is the quality of work
and it’s relevance to the society in which it
was created.
As an artist it is not my
color that gives me the inspiration or the capacity
to produce a desired result, but the ability to be sensitive
to the various conditions of life that face all mankind.
My first showing of some
of these paintings was called “Lost Images Found
Paintings from the Soul” reinforcing the importance
of our culture in various parts of the world.
Three shows followed
after that. One expanded on cultural isolation and the
other specifically was to present a new approach to
Afro-American figurative art merging the contemporary
and the classical forms.
The objective of my
vision is to heighten the awareness of those who view
figurative images in my art and to stimulate one’s
thought and imagination. The end result is a series
of paintings and drawings that form cultural links between
our past and our future.
