Angela and Me (a part of history)
By Larry Richardson
35"x 27" mixed media & collage
on Arches paper - Framed
Price: $ 2,800.00 USD
Larry Richardson ~ Artist
www.aminaarts.com
Their is a brief poem within the work. It
reads:
Still searching for my sovereign self
Craving to hear that concerto so sweet.
Angela and me.
We are an altered people.
Angela and me.
Represented by BlackCommentator.com
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.