Monday, June 3, 2019

I went to the Charles White: A Retrospective exhibition at LACMA. Charles White was an African American artist who showed an affinity for art at a young age. He was raised by a single mother who could not afford childcare, so she would leave him at the library while she worked. There, he read and learned about art. As he studied art, he realized that most fine art only featured white bodies, so as an artist, he strived to represent and celebrate blackness. He created art with a wide variety of media, from ink, pencil, tempura, and of course, printmaking.
My favorite print piece of his was a large lithograph print titled Love Letter III it is a large print of a face looking upwards with eyes closed, wearing a scarf over their head and shoulders. Floating above their face is a large, pink conch shell. The background is a blue to white blend. I think the color choice in this print is gorgeous, I love how the pink and blue contrast to give the image energy, but on their own are subdued colors. I also like how symmetrical this piece is, it gives a sense of balance. The part i found most interesting about this piece was the shell. I looked closely to see how many layers it was and I think it is only three, maybe even two. It's amazing how much depth, detail, and color range White was able to get in this shell using such a limited number of layers. The same goes for the figure at the bottom of the composition, which is only one layer. Even with one layer, White still manages to achieve a full range of values. White had several other linoleum cut prints but Love Letter III was definitely my favorite. 
Young Farmer, 1953
Micah, 1964

Solid as a Rock (My God Is Rock), 1958

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