small white book with black lettering and four color photos of paintings
*black dimensions in contemporary american art* (1971) preface: edward s. spriggs, #studiomuseum exec dir. intro: david c driskell. bios & color photos of work from 40+ artists. ~$1 at #estatesale 2day. #blackstudies #paperback #almathomas #berniecasey #margaretburroughs #davidhammons #bennyandrews
American artist Benny Andrews is known for fusing oil paint with collaged fabric to treat memory as something you can touch. In “Mother Death,” a tall, brown-skinned figure stands against a pale lavender background, built in low relief from painted canvas and cut fabric. She wears a wide-brimmed hat striped blue with a red band, a white lace-edged collar and sleeve, and a black top over blue-and-indigo striped skirt or pants. In her right hand, a round purple handbag dotted with bright rosettes; in the other, a blue jar wrapped in red-striped cloth containing a tall green plant with black, leafless branches rising like silhouettes. Edges lift from the surface, as Andrews emphasizes texture, seam, and shadow. The tender plant and the stark, skeletal branches stage a quiet dialogue between nurture and mortality, hinted by the work’s title. Lace cuffs and the small purse dignify everyday adornment, while the figure’s gaze and posture evoke the resilience Andrews championed in portrayals of Black Southern life. In the early 1990s while living in New York and teaching at Queens College, Andrews refined portrait-like images drawn from family, community, and rituals of care. “It bothers me not being seen as a complicated individual,” he said. This work insists on that complexity through texture, presence, and quiet symbolism.
“Mother Death” by Benny Andrews (“mAmerican) - Oil and collage / 1992 - Ogden Museum of Southern Art (New Orleans, Louisiana) #WomenInArt #MixedMedia #BlueskyArt #art #artText #artwork #BennyAndrews #AfricanAmericanArt #BlackArt #BlackArtists #ContemporaryArt #OgdenMuseum #OgdenMuseumOfSouthernArt
Heaven by Benny Andrews, 1967 (oil painting)
Heaven by Benny Andrews, 1967 (oil painting)
#bennyandrews #painting #art #expressionist
Fell in love with this painting in the 1990s my friend Chris asked me if I wanted to go to his dad’s opening. I had no idea what to expect. #bennyandrews
“Man In the Sun” (1965) Oil on canvas 27” x 23” Signed lower center and signed, dated and titled verso Framed by Benny Andrews The stylistic culmination of the paintings in the Laskowski Collection. Subject matter, media and mood. The human figure is not elongated - yet. It draws attention away from the human form, from the mule’s hindquarters to the lonesome tree. This painting was shown at the Kunstamt Kreusberg, West Berlin in 1985 and at the Perez Art Museum Miami in 2019 and Red Dot Miami 2024 booth 412 presented by Inchoate Art Gallery “In the mid-1960s, while establishing himself as an artist in New York, Benny Andrews produced a series of autobiographical works that drew on his Georgia upbringing. Andrews was born the son of sharecroppers and worked as one in his youth, and his depictions of ordinary southerners were informed by a deeply personal connection and a loving familiarity. This painting shows a man plowing a vast field that stretches toward the horizon. It evokes memories of the daily realities of Andrews’s former life: the stifling heat of the sun, the exhausting labor, the rich Georgia red clay soil, the endless rows of cotton.”
“Sleeping Christopher” (1962) Oil on canvas Signed middle left and dated 1962 by Benny Andrews Christopher doesn’t actually seem to be sleeping, but the figure in the painting on the wall is watching him. Love that signature on the painting in a painting.
Inchoate Art Gallery is honored to host The Laskowski Collection. All paintings were acquired directly from the artist in New York City during the early 1960’s by Matthew L. Laskowski Sr.
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