Larry Richardson ~ Artist
www.aminaarts.com
acrylic on canvas
Size: 72" x 48"
Price $7,000 USD
Represented by BlackCommentator.com
To purchase the original or get information
on reproductions 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.