Art@UMUC Magazine, Fall 2015

A R T S P R O G R A M U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y L A N D U N I V E R S I T Y C O L L E G E

18 Arts Program Out and About: Richmond and Hampton, Virginia

4 Akili Ron Anderson: Black Power in Art 12 Raoul Middleman’s

Romantic Expressionism: Honoring 55 Years of Artistic Excellence

News and Perspectives for Friends of the Arts

FALL 2015

From the President Dear Patrons,

The arts inspire creativity in all of us, and the University of Maryland University College (UMUC) Arts Program—now with more than 2,800 works in its perma-nent collection—constantly inspires me. It includes pieces from some of the region’s most talented artists, whose masterful works on canvas and paper and in other media invite dialogue with us as viewers. Often, that dialogue delves into subjects and topics that we might not encounter in our everyday lives and conversations.

And each of us experiences that dialogue in a different way. One may be fascinated by the use of color or texture. Another may notice and try to understand how light is used and captured in a particular work. Someone else may be drawn to a piece’s historical context. No matter what one’s personal focus may be, all art invites us to think and wonder and explore. That is part of what makes our Arts Program such a rich addition to the fabric of UMUC—a univer-sity that focuses on teaching and learning, inspiring students to expand and build on what they know and to think in creative and constructive ways. Art can be a tool for both introspection and transforma-tion and as such plays an important role in the educational experience. Our next major exhibition—for Washington, D.C., native Delilah W. Pierce—represents a special learning opportunity. This important exhibition, which opens September 27, offers insights into the evolving skills and worldview of an artist and educator whose career spanned more than 65 years. Your generous support of the Arts Program allows us to continue to bring a rich and diverse array of exhibitions to our students, faculty, and staff and the local community. I thank you for your commit-ment to this important initiative—and I hope to see you at one of our exhibition openings soon.

Sincerely,

Javier Miyares, President University of Maryland University College

From the Chair Dear Friends,

Fall is almost here, and I am excited to tell you what the Arts Program has com-ing up in the next few months. On September 27, the public will get the first glimpse of a retrospective of Delilah W. Pierce, an artistic force and leader in the arts community in Washing-ton, D.C. She was an educator, mentor, and advocate for all artists in the region, and this important exhibition spans her work from 1939 until the late 1980s. And on November 8—mark your calendar now—you are invited to a panel discussion

hosted by UMUC that will reflect on Pierce’s life and art. You’ll hear from two scholars, the artist’s great-niece, her gallery representative, and UMUC’s own director and curator. Then early in 2016, UMUC will proudly host the work of Akemi Maegawa, an artist whose work in-corporates ceramics, fiber, installation components, and conceptual work. This Japanese-born resident of Maryland, who studied both in Washington, D.C., and outside of Detroit, Michigan, is recognized for breaking the traditional boundaries of sculpture. I look forward to experiencing the works of these very different and gifted artists. As we look ahead to this stimulating programming, I want to thank you for supporting the fundrais-ing efforts that I mentioned in the spring newsletter. But we’re not done yet! If you have not yet become a Friend of the Arts member, please join us. And I also invite you to participate in our online art auction, which will conclude on September 12, the evening of the UMUC Cyber Gala. The auction features origi-nal works from some of the best artists in our region, including Kwabena Ampofo-Anti, Alan Binstock, David Driskell, Helen Frederick, Raoul Middleman, and Joseph Sheppard. Details and registration are at www.umuc.edu/arts. I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming event—and seeing your name on our list of supporters.

Sincerely,

Anne V. Maher, Esq., Chair, Art Advisory Board University of Maryland University College

GREETINGS

With a regional and national focus, the Arts Program is dedicated to the acquisition, preservation, study, exhibition, and interpretation of works of art of the highest quality in a variety of media that represent its constituents and to continuing its historic dedication to Maryland and Asian art.

UMUC ARTS PROGRAM

MISSION STATEMENT

1www.umuc.edu/art art@UMUC

4 Akili Ron Anderson:

Black Power in Art

CONTENTS

In Every Issue GREETINGS FROM THE PRESIDENT AND THE CHAIR

2 COLLECTION SPOTLIGHT

3 DID YOU KNOW?

20 NEWS AND EVENTS

22 BECOME A FRIEND OF THE ARTS AT UMUC

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Untitled (King) artwork by Akili Ron Anderson; Raoul Middleman greets art patrons and signs his catalog at the exhibition opening reception; artist Sonya Clark shows her inspiration for her artwork entitled Triangle Trade

12 Raoul Middleman’s

Romantic Expressionism:

Honoring 55 Years of

Artistic Excellence

Arts Program Out and About:

Richmond and Hampton, Virginia18

ON THE COVER

Delilah W. Pierce: Natural Perspective

UMUC will showcase the art of Delilah W. Pierce with an exhibition that begins in September. Find out more about about the event on page 21.

Delilah W. Pierce, Fishing Boats at Martha’s Vineyard, 1951, watercolor on paper, 12 x 16 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Doris Patz Collection of Maryland Artists

FALL 2015

Managing EditorEric Key

EditorsSandy Bernstein Beth Butler Nancy Kochuk

Director, Institutional MarketingCynthia Friedman

Graphic DesignerJennifer Norris

Project ManagerLaurie Bushkoff

Arts Program StaffRene Sanjines Brian Young

UMUC Art Advisory BoardJavier Miyares, UMUC PresidentAnne V. Maher, Esq., ChairEva J. Allen, Honorary MemberAlvah T. BeanderMyrtis Bedolla, Vice ChairJoan BevelaquaI-Ling Chow, Honorary MemberPatricia DubroofNina C. DwyerJeannette GloverKarin Goldstein, Honorary MemberJuanita Boyd Hardy, Honorary MemberSharon Holston, Honorary MemberPamela Holt Michèle E. Jacobs, Past ChairEric KeyThomas Li, Honorary MemberDavid Maril, Honorary MemberBarbara Stephanic, PhD Past Vice Chair, Honorary MemberDianne A. Whitfield-Locke, DDSSharon Wolpoff

University of Maryland University College is a constituent institution of the University System of Maryland. Art@umuc is published twice a year by UMUC’s Art Advisory Board. Please send comments to [email protected] or mail to

Magazine EditorArts ProgramUniversity of Maryland University College3501 University Boulevard EastAdelphi, MD 20783-8007Phone 301-985-7937 • Fax 301-985-7865

In April 2015, the Arts Program at UMUC received a generous gift from Stephen Stein

and Michael Abrams: 16 poignant color photographs by Chan Chao, an American pho-

tographer known for his color portraits.

Chao was born in Kalemyo, Burma (now officially called Myanmar) and at age 12

immigrated to the United States with his family. He studied under John Gossage at

University of Maryland, College Park. Over the course of his career, he has produced

three books of his works: Burma: Something Went Wrong, Letter from PLF, and Echo.

Chao lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, and teaches at George Washington University.

His work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City;

G Fine Art and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.; Arlington Art Center,

Arlington, Virginia; and University of Maryland, College Park.

The 16 photographs given to UMUC all come from the portfolio entitled Santa

Monica: Six Years and Eight Months, which depicts women in a Peruvian prison, a

place known as the detention center for women caught and implicated in drug smug-

gling activities. Santa Monica prison contains an unusually diverse convergence of

lives, stories, and needs. Through this portfolio, viewers get a glimpse of the dignity of

the women and the struggles they endure. And through the photographs, the women’s

collective plight calls out for our sympathy.

While UMUC has recently added extensively to its works on paper collection—

including works from the Maryland Printmakers, black-and-white photographs by

Aubrey Bodine, and Polaroids by Andy Warhol—this new gift is the largest and most

important group of color photographs in the UMUC permanent collection.

ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: Chan Chao, Melissa, 2006, color print, 26 x 20 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection, Gift of Stephen Stein; Lisano, 2006, color print, 26 x 20 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection, Gift of Stephen Stein

CHAN CHAO / SANTA MONICA: SIX YEARS AND EIGHT MONTHS

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover: John Woo; Inside cover: Katherine Lambert, Jonah Koch; p. 1 clockwise from top left: John Woo, Tracey Brown, Meg Roberts; pp. 2–5 John Woo; p. 6 top: John Woo, bottom: photographer unknown; p. 7–11 John Woo; p. 12 Benjamin Middleman; pp. 13–14: John Woo; p. 15 artist sketch: John Woo, all others: Tracey Brown; p. 16–17 John Woo; p. 18: Taylor Dabney; p. 19 clockwise from top left: Eric Key, Eric Key, Richard Ward; pp. 20 John Woo; p. 21 top to bottom: Brian Young, John Woo; courtesy of Irvine Contemporary

2 UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

www.umuc.edu/art art@UMUC 3

DID YOU KNOW?

LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS ABOUT ARTISTS AND ARTWORKS IN THE UMUC PERMANENT COLLECTION

By Eric Key

Photographer A. Aubrey Bodine, who worked for the Baltimore

Sun’s Sunday Sun Magazine

for fifty years, is best known

for his black-and-white images

of Baltimore and Maryland

landmarks and traditions?

Japanese artist Yoshiko Oishi-Weick, who maintains the

tradition of Asian ink wash

painting called Sumi-e, was

born in Daegu, Korea, but

now lives and works in the

Washington, D.C. area?

Carroll Sockwell, an abstract

painter born in Washington,

D.C., was a part of the art scene

in the 1960s and ’70s before his

tragic death in 1992?

John Blair Mitchell, who taught

art at Towson University for 42

years before retiring in 1991,

was a founding member of both

the Baltimore Museum of Art’s

Print and Drawing Society and

the Maryland Printmakers?

Did you know . . .

ABOVE, LEFT TO RIGHT: A. Aubrey Bodine, Commercial Typing Department (detail), 1928, gelatin silver print, 7¾ x 95⁄8 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Col-lection; Carroll Sockwell, Fione #4 (detail), not dated, pastel on paper, 2¼ x 5¼ inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection; Yoshiko Oishi-Weick, Orchid and Plum (detail), 2004, India ink on paper, 28 x 54 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, International Collection; John Blair Mitchell, Bioglyth VI (detail), 1973, acrylic and mixed media, 48 x 33 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection


Black PowerBY ERIC KEYIN ART

AKILI RON ANDERSON


kili Ron Anderson has been creating art practically from the time of his birth. He seemed to be born with a creative gene that put him on the road to become a visual artist at a young age. Anderson was born in Washington, D.C., on February 19, 1946, to Frances Holmes-Anderson and Russell Anderson. His mother attended Howard University in the 1940s; his father was a career military man in the army and a carpen-ter. Both supported his artistic endeavors by buying him art supplies, and their knowledge of arts and crafts provided the groundwork for Anderson’s growth as an artist. His father’s carpentry skills, in particular, provided the foundation for Anderson to explore sculpture. As a child, Anderson spent his days looking out of the front window of his home drawing, sketching, and document-ing his imagination on paper and canvas. To take a break from drawing, Anderson would walk around to the corner store, which also served as a source of creative inspiration. In those days, he was not very social, but over the years he trained himself to be a conversationalist. The Anderson family eventually moved across the city from Northeast to Northwest D.C., to a working class community that demanded

the best from their children. One of six children in the household, Ander-son spent his days drawing while other family mem-bers carried on their conversations.

Anderson grew up in a Methodist household, and his parents were strict. They did not allow him to be a part of adult conversations—however, they would ask him to show his drawings to their friends. Because of this, Anderson became known in the community as an artist. Although young, Anderson was all too conscious of social unrest in the wider world. Anderson remembers the murder of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African American who was killed on August 28, 1955. “I was afraid, and I thought this could happen to me,” Anderson said. To deal with the tragedy and his fear, Anderson turned to his canvas and paints. Anderson also had first-hand experience of segregation from visits to Virginia. He remembered public places where he could not go and places, such as the movie theater, that were reserved for “Colored Only.” By 1963 when Martin Luther King Jr. led the March on Washington, Anderson was determined to be involved even though his parents would not allow him to attend the nearby rally. As a result, Anderson got involved with the civil rights movement through his art. He produced works that were Afrocentric and carried a message. One such painting was

a portrait of Dr. King, entitled Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In this piece, Anderson depicts the

historic figure in a side profile with a ray of light beaming on his forehead

and his mouth open. Anderson creates ambiguity by not detailing King’s attire, letting the viewer wonder if he wears

a suit or a robe or a clerical collar. He might be making his famous “I Have a Dream” speech or delivering a sermon. King’s right hand is raised

and expressive with the figures spread open. Anderson played with light and color, but in Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr., he truly created an interpretive work about a

moment in American history. Anderson uses rich red, yellow,

and gold to grayish hues with thick brush strokes from top to

bottom of the canvas. The use of such colors sets the overall mood while also creating

a dialogue with the viewer. As one scans the painting from left to right, the gray colors capture the dark periods of African American life from the Middle Passage, through

A

Akili Ron Anderson with his mural-sized artwork, Black Power

IN ART


Enlightenment I, circa 2015, acrylic on canvas, 36 x 24 inches


slavery, up to the death of Emmett Till. However, the brighter hues to the right create a more hopeful atmosphere. Anderson attended Cardozo High School, but he admits he was not a good student. Although he had straight A’s in math, Spanish, and a few other subjects, he did not do well in his college prep courses. However, Anderson wanted to seek a higher education, and in 1964, one of his high school teachers, Grace Chichester, introduced him to the Corcoran School of the Arts and helped him get a full scholarship there, despite his poor academic record. At the time, there were

only a handful of African American students in the freshman class—possibly the first African Americans to attend the Corcoran. Anderson’s first year, he recalls, was a learning experience in race relations. As a student at the Corcoran, Anderson felt that the teaching staff was not prepared to teach African American students. This experience caused him to transfer to Howard University, where he met James Amos Porter. At the time (1965), Porter was head of the Art Depart- ment at Howard, and he selected Anderson to be his student assistant. To this day, Anderson does not know why Porter selected him but says that he is grateful for the experiences that Porter provided him. One such experience was the ability to work with Alvin Carter, curator of the art gallery at Howard. As a gallery attendant, Anderson opened the gallery on weekends and for special events, a duty that allowed him to meet many of the artists. These included some of the most recognized African American artists in the art world today, such as Elizabeth Catlett. Anderson admits that he did not know who they were when he first met them, but he remembers that they were very welcoming to him. In fact, many of the artists who visited the gallery would stop to show interest in the young aspiring art student. However, it was Elizabeth Catlett who invited Anderson to Mexico to work on a performance art project some years later. While studying at Howard University, Anderson also got involved with the theater department. New teachers Ed Love (sculpture) and Paul Carter Harrison (theater) were looking to integrate the departments on the campus and they asked Anderson to co-design the set for the play Tabernacle with Ed Love. Afterward, Anderson began to design sets for other plays. Anderson left Howard University before graduating because of his involvement with student protest rallies and university building sit-ins. Since the mandatory draft was in

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1964, oil on canvas board, 24 x 18 inches

LEFT TO RIGHT: young Akili Ron Anderson, circa 1953; Weight of the World, wire sculpture created for the Cardozo High School Art Fair, circa 1964; artists Kevin Cole, Adger Cowans, Nelson Stevens, Napoleon Jones-Henderson, Akili Ron Anderson, and Michael Harris at the AfriCOBRA Conference in Atlanta, 2013


place at the time, Anderson received his papers to be drafted into the army, but this wasn’t his choice for a career. He reported to the recruiting office with a list of reasons why he would not make a good soldier, detailing how he felt about war, politics, and foreign countries as well as offering his opinion about the United States and its handling of race relations. As a result, Anderson was refused enlistment into the armed services. The artist then decided to get involved with community art groups that utilized all the art disciplines. He felt that working in theater would provide a way for him to have direct contact with the African American community, address their issues, and help to develop an African American consciousness. He did not think he could achieve these goals by exhibiting his work in art galleries. From his perspective, art galleries of the time served only a small segment of the population and generally not the black community. It became his goal to work and show his works of art in places where the African American community could see them. The early 1970s proved to be fruitful for Anderson. He served a two-year residency, organized by the DC Commis-sion on the Arts and Humanities, at McKinley High School from 1971 to 1973. In 1972, he had an exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art, where he met artist Alma Thomas, the famed abstractionist of the Washington Color School. During this time, he also got involved with a community-based theater organization called Black Magic. Working with Black Magic on set design also provided Anderson the opportunity to work with his mentor and friend Ed Love from Howard University. At the same time, Anderson lent his talents as set technician to Nation: African Liberation Arts Ensemble, an organization that he co-founded. This multimedia ensemble performed locally and nationally, and notably at the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1977. In 1974, Anderson joined the new Duke Ellington School of the Arts as the first chairperson of the art department. Here he could align himself with an organization that encompassed many artistic disciplines and both interpret the literary arts and

Art is a reflection of the inner spirit of the individual Therefore, I encourage artists to listen to their ancestors for inspiration and guidance in the creative process.

The artist working on a cermamic sculpture head in his studio


merge them with the visual arts. In other words, Anderson transformed the theater productions by creating large-scale set designs. And once again he had the opportunity to work with his mentor and friend, Ed Love. Anderson’s life has been one of discovery—discovery of his cultural heritage and identity and discovery of himself as an artist. For Anderson, the two quests were intertwined. He began to emerge as an artist as he became more self-aware of his cultural identity. He began to read more about African art and culture and then began to incorporate African motifs and symbols in his painting. Anderson strongly focuses on African American themes as subjects, and elements of African texture and composition pervade his art. His color palette truly shows a direct parallel to the colorful textural elements of African cloth such as Kenti cloth. His colors tend toward earth tones that look as if he mixed paint with dirt rather than using typical paint store colors. Just as some artists use light, Anderson uses geometrical patterns in his art to create movement and depth. Over the years, Anderson’s works became more Afrocen-tric, providing a voice of empowerment, self-determination, and self-awareness. Created in 1970, Black Power, a mixed media on canvas that is mounted on plywood to hold the massive mural-sized work, shows two fists extending out in opposite directions. One fist faces down while the other is shown thumb-side up. Both fists seem to be coming out of the picture right at the viewer. The arms are joined in the center with a small crude triangular design with a gold background. Overlapping the gold background is a line of black stretching from left to right. Above the black is a stroke of red paint that is dripping with two lines falling down. Above the red is what appears to be a green tree. The work is also reflective of the Mexican-style murals where portions of the painting are proportionally larger than other areas of the work. Inspired by Washington Color School painter Sam Gilliam, who was working in large colorful abstracts at the time, Anderson created this work as part of a series of what he called “shaped paintings” while he was an artist-in-residence at the DC Commission on the Arts and

Humanities. For Anderson, the black represents the people (people of African descent) and the red the “blood memory” of the people. The green represents the land that is the origin of cultural development. Another “shaped painting,” entitled Determination, was created to reflect a face with horns. For Anderson, the horns represent a combination of anger and determination, feelings that are often at odds with one another. More importantly, the anger and the determination represent the attitude of those fighting for civil rights. In the 1980s, Anderson was asked to join AfriCOBRA (the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists), a group of artists who were using a wide array of colors in their works. Originally called COBRA (the Coalition of Black Revolutionary Artists), the organization was formed in 1968 to produce art that spoke directly to the needs, aspirations, and experiences of African Americans.

Reaching Out, circa 1985, India ink on paper, 11 x 49½ inches

Synergy, 2008, fired ceramic, 12 x 12 x 12 inches


Creation, circa 1980, mixed media on paper, 29 x 21 inches


In the first year of his membership, Anderson produced Creation. In Creation, he uses a kaleidoscope of mostly triangle-shaped colors to depict the birth of of humankind. Toward the top righthand corner of the work, Anderson creates a circle with three female faces. To the left of that circle, Anderson uses brighter yellows, burgundies, oranges, light greens, and purples to create the sun. Below it is an image of Africa, also in brighter hues. Anderson cleverly creates the female torso belonging to the primary head of the three in the circle. The arm stretching inward over the canvas and over the image of Africa suggests a mother caring for and protecting her child, in this case Africa herself. Below the bottom of the figure is a series of African American faces created with Anderson’s triangular-shaped colors. The male faces, which may be seen either as a series of five individual heads or as one head that is in continuous motion, rotate inward into the canvas until an angled, larger face emerges. Anderson enjoys working with found objects and materials that are in his surroundings. Such materials can be paper bags, shingles for a roof, or scraps of metal. Thus, this fascination with found objects propels him to explore different mediums. He doesn’t lock himself into any artistic style. He simply paints and creates sculptures that he feels directed to produce. In the work titled Miles—named after master trumpet player, band leader, and composer Miles Davis—Anderson

explores the use of found objects from his everyday surround-ings. In this work, created by Anderson as a high school student (1963), Miles is kneeling, holding a trumpet to his mouth, angled to the sky. Created from clothesline wire, the work captures the spirit of the music that Anderson often listened to when creating. Anderson says his art moves and drives him. His works are born directly from his experience. He simply looks into himself to paint, communing with his inner spirit and the ancestors to create meaningful works of art. It is truly his faith that drives him to paint, and he believes it is his community and students that keep him energized. He wants his art to inspire the community and liberate the viewer to do positive things for others. A painter, stained glass artist, sculptor, and set designer, Anderson loves teaching and interacting with students. He has now been a professor of art at Howard University in the Department of Art since 2009. He brings to the classroom a magnificent knowledge of art theory, practice, and history—especially African American history. Anderson received his BFA and MFA from Howard University in 2008.

Miles, circa 1963, wire, 44 x 26 x 26 inches

I credit all those who have helped me along the waY . . . So now, I have dedicated my tenure to training the next generation of artists to listen to their ancestors, learn their craft and the business of art, and produce the best art that they can.

Eric Key is the director of the Arts Program at UMUC.

Raoul Middleman has created over 8,000 paintings in his massive two-story studio in Baltimore. At age 80, the energetic artist still paints daily.


“OLD MAN MAD ABOUT PAINTING”1 RAOUL MIDDLEMAN

By Laurence M. Porter, PhD

University Art Museum, a sculpture whose every angle

rewards close viewing.

Middleman never lacks energy, audacity, and inspira-

tion. Masked by its rough finish, his bravura style recalls

the virtuosic draftsmanship of a Larry Rivers. He often

produces a painting a day. Some are just sketches, but

none is trite; none is predictable. His visual art powerfully

combines a sense of the unrelenting flux that history has

imposed on his times, with a radical return to the convic-

tion of the Romantic painter Eugene Delacroix that what

makes men of genius is the obsessive conviction that what

has been said has still not been said enough. Middleman’s

talk at the Troika Gallery in Easton, Maryland, in 2014—

the videotape is available on www.raoulmiddleman.com—

explains his aesthetics.

“I learned from Titian and Giorgione how to model a

figure,” he said, and combined their Renaissance vision

with a Romantic worldview, with Burke and Kant’s under-

standing of the sublime. Beyond the pleasing picturesque

and orderly beauty lies the awesome, which transcends

aoul Middleman, a Baltimore artist, studied at the

Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) and at the

Brooklyn Museum School during the glory years of the

New York school of painters and poets. After art school,

he reports moving to New York’s Lower East Side and paint-

ing abstract expressionist style, emulating mainly Willem

de Kooning. The influx of talented refugees from Europe

from the 1930s to the 1950s had shifted the center of the

Western art world from Paris to New York. (A strong French

influence persists; both Raoul and his wife, Ruth, were

marked by their study in Paris). Middleman, whose Russian

Jewish ancestors were persecuted both by German Nazis

and Russian Communists, had a natural existential affinity

with these immigrants.

Middleman and Ruth (née Channing), a wonderfully

whimsical artist, were urban pioneers, renovating an

abandoned Baltimore row house in a then-gritty neighbor-

hood between the railway station and the freeway. They live

their vision. Their home’s secret core reflects their sense

of the sublime indwelling in the ordinary: they combined

the second and third of the four stories into a single vast

studio, with a catwalk running around the edges of the walls

ten feet up. It recalls de Kooning’s self-designed two-story

studio in Springs on Long Island or the intricate inner

spaces of Donald Judd’s homemade desk in the Yale

R

Artwork above: Raoul on Fire, not dated, oil on board, 24 x 16 inches, UMUC Permanent Collection, Maryland Artist Collection, Gift of the artist

Laurence M. Porter is a professor emeritus at Michigan State University.

boundaries. Although, says Middleman, the artist tries to

reduce mystery to truth, the unknowable remains, always

dark, implacable, and fluid like life itself. It appears in many

details of his paintings. Like sculpture, his works are meant

to be seen from more than one vantage point. “A lot of my

paintings are experiments with the medium, to see how

it works,” Middleman says. “I show paint as paint; I don’t

want the paint to slide too smoothly.” When you look at

it from close up, you see the deliberate rough finish and

broken outlines, but when you step back, he says, “it jumps

into an illusion.” He often abandons the pinhole, one-point

perspective of European painting from classicism through

impressionism in favor of a two- or multiple-point perspec-

tive, all the more subtly disquieting because it is projected

onto an understated, realistic subject.

He invokes Shakespeare, Mozart, and Titian to exemplify

his goal of creating a meta-discourse that breaks one form

or genre in order to suggest another one. “The form can

become an extension of the content,” he says. “You ride the

paint like a horse: you guide it, it guides you.” In contrast,

his drawings are made like snapshots, and “each take is a

collision with the world of appearances.”2 In his still lifes,

bright yellow areas such as lemons are a frequent motif, like

captive suns. In two works in this show, the slimy, irides-

cent surface of the fish, in darker, mottled tones, contrasts

with the dry, bumpy surface of the lemons; and the fish,

whose eyes still appear fresh and bright, seem to stare at

you, challenging your illusion of supremacy in the universe.

Middleman presents his conception of history’s in-

stability in his massive narrative paintings such as Gypsy

Caravan and Custer’s Last Stand in his dynamic sketches

of human figures boxing, and of swirling horses and riders.

In his portraits, Middleman works more in the tradition of

Rembrandt or Rubens, rather than using the slick, gleam-

ing finish of an Ingres who flatters the rich or titillates our

senses with his boneless Odalisques. “I’m an uglifier,”

he explains. At times he makes his subjects’ bodies more

corpulent and their skin more rough and blotchy than

they really are. They reflect what de Kooning called “the

melodrama of vulgarity.”3 You don’t have to be somebody

(wealthy or socially prominent) to become the subject of

a Middleman portrait.4

Custer’s Last Stand, 1967, oil on canvas, 127 x 216 inches


RAOUL MIDDLEMAN’S Romantic ExpressionismHonoring 55 Years of Artistic Excellence

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: reception attendees take a selfie with the artist; family members (left to right) Susan Channing, Laurence Channing, and Monique Jackson-Middleman; Baltimore painter Greg Fletcher views a Middleman drawing; a former student of the artist, Baltimore artist Joe Giordano, surprises Middleman during the event lecture; in honor of Middleman’s 80th birthday, a custom-designed cake was created featuring the artist’s paintings

The April 17 opening reception

for Raoul Middleman’s Romantic

Expressionism exhibition at UMUC’s

Art Gallery became a lively birthday

celebration honoring the talented

and prolific 80-year-old Baltimore

artist. After Middleman entertained

guests with his trademark wit and

wisdom, he got serious accolades

from Laurence M. Porter, professor

emeritus at Michigan State

University, Patricia Mainardi,

a professor at City University

of New York and visiting distin-

guished professor at Beijing

Jiaotong University, and

freelance curator and

art consultant Heidi Müller,

who befriended the

artist during his time

in Munich.

To commemorate the exhibition and celebration, Middleman has agreed to offer a limited edition, signed and numbered etching, Myself@80, for $500 to benefit the Arts Program at UMUC.

Reserve your print by calling 301-985-7642 or e-mailing [email protected].

Raoul Middleman, Myself@80, 2015, etching, edition of 50, 15 x 11 inches, (image) 4 x 5 inches, Gift of the artist


The Portrait of Al, Middleman’s first painting at PAFA,

displays a powerful framework of a handsome blond man

(a fellow student) seated and leaning forward on his

bent forearms, looking like a stolid sphinx, in a realist-

impressionist style. After this squared-off Al, Middleman

nearly always endows his painted and sketched figures

with incredible kinetic energy. They seem not posed but

poised. The standing figures often have one arm akimbo

and the other raised. The seated figures, usually in an

armchair, rarely have both legs or both arms in the same

position. Even the models’ fingers seem differentiated by

restless twisting motions, halted momentarily in an appar-

ent freeze-frame. The bodies may occupy as many as six

different frames: eyes looking directly at the viewer; head

Midnight Snack, 1965, oil on canvas, 81 x 69 inches


Portrait of Al, 1959, oil on board, 21 x 27 inches

Breakwater at High Tide, 1975, oil on board, 24 x 24 inches

1 Allusion to the self-selected nickname of Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). This artist from Edo (present-day Tokyo) drew thousands of images of landscapes and from the daily lives of people at all social levels, celebrating both the sublime and the ordinary.

2 Telephone interviews, January 2015.

3 As you could see in his recent show at the MICA Meyerhoff Gallery, his self- portraits repeatedly demonstrate that he never exempts himself from his unsparing vision, in which life wears on us until it wears us out. Selfies: Over 50 Years of Raoul Middleman’s Self Portraits, January 30–March 15, 2015.

4 “Beer with a Painter: Raoul Middleman” interview by Jennifer Samet, November 9, 2013.

rotated slightly away; torso oriented toward the viewer;

hips turned away; legs turned forward again; and the feet

away. Seated poses may be complicated by one leg or arm

draped over an arm of the chair. The fingers of one hand are

seldom aligned, and each hand is typically in a different

position. Middleman’s favorite pose is a three-quarter

alignment (the torso roughly forty-five degrees away from

the parallel with the viewer’s plane). With the multiple

figures found in many sketches, he intensifies the kinetic

energy by depicting either oppositional movement (boxing)

or twofold cooperative movements (horse and rider).

Midnight Snack, an exceptionally realistic image insofar

as it corresponds to our expectations for artificial ren-

derings of reality, illustrates Middleman’s simultaneous

homage to and disillusionment with pop art (in the style of

Andy Warhol or Roy Lichtenstein), with its smooth finish

and glossy surfaces that actually blind us to the more

complex, real physical world with its shadows and refracted

light, while ostensibly dramatizing physicality. He thrusts

his right hand, larger than his head, toward the viewer, like

Francesco Parmigianino’s self-portrait described by John

Ashbery in his famous poem, “Self-Portrait in a Convex

Mirror.” The stem of the beer glass he is holding bends

sharply into an implied fourth dimension, as if cubism were

returning to infiltrate a world of hyper-realism. The left hand

holds a sandwich that conflates the hungry man’s lower lip

with a tomato—part of the sandwich he is eating.

Raoul Middleman’s iconoclastic treatment of light

and of space becomes most apparent in his landscapes,

seascapes, and cityscapes. You can see his Cedars and

Hail Storm in the virtual Landscape Gallery section of his

website, as well as his essay, “Courbet and the Modern

Landscape.” “Shafts of light that invade the dark forest

interior have an unnerving twitch, like a jittery muscle . . . ,”

he wrote. “The distinctions between foreground and middle

distance are in constant flux,” whereas Courbet’s sea-

scapes evaporate “the constrictions of tension and terror”

into the vapors of sea and sky, creating “a glorious but

fragile bubble of refracted light imperiled by storms.”

Breakwater at High Tide echoes the choppy waves in the

middle ground with the larger boulders in the foreground

(one of which, during the 1938 hurricane, ended up against

the inner wall of his future grandparents-in-law’s pantry

hallway, with an unbroken glass bowl sitting on top of it).

The closest boulders are incongruously highlighted, as if

the yellow sun just partly visible at the top center had leapt

over the darkened intervening spaces. Out in the open water

to the right of the sheltering breakwater, the sea is surpris-

ingly calm. The artist’s seascapes and the landscapes both

often use strongly contrasted diagonal movements, form-

ing an X, neither arm of which ends at the viewers’ eyes.

The line of a beach contrasts jarringly with the thrust of a

breakwater; a fan of tree trunks and branches emanating

from a lower corner of a river or marsh scene leads our

gaze upward toward the sky, while the flow of a stream in

the middle distance, and the opposite bank that frames it,

rises crisscross but more gently in the opposite direction.

An except from the UMUC exhibition catalog, Raoul Middleman’s Romantic Expressionism: Honoring 55 Years of Artistic Excellence

On Saturday morning, June 6, at 6:30 a.m. 30 art collectors, artists, art patrons, UMUC staff, and other

art lovers began gathering at The Leroy Merritt Center for

the Art of Joseph Sheppard to take part in a daylong art

adventure to Richmond and Hampton, Virginia. This year’s

trip, sponsored by the UMUC Arts Program, included visits

to the studios of contemporary artists Sonya Clark, Richard

Ward, Kwabena Ampofo-Anti, and Greg Henry. Everyone

was excited about the day ahead,

so we introduced ourselves and

soon began chatting about our

shared interest in art.

The two-hour journey south

on Interstate 95 and through

the beautiful historic district of

Richmond, Virginia, brought us to

our first stop: the combined home/

studio of Washington, D.C., native

Sonya Clark. She and her husband

Darryl Harper, an accomplished

musician and chair of the music

department at Virginia Common-

wealth University, greeted us.

Clark’s art is “a strong

statement of cultural identity,”

according to A History of Art in

Africa. Her works have been in-

cluded in more than 250 museums

and galleries in the United States,

South America, Africa, Asia, and

Europe. We were interested in

Clark’s descriptions of her art, as she offered details about

works such as the Comb Series, in which black plastic

combs speak to hair culture, race politics, and antiquated

notions of good hair and bad hair.

After a 45-minute visit, we boarded the bus for the trip

to Hampton University, founded in 1868, now identified as

one of 106 historically black colleges and universities in

the United States. There we toured the Hampton Univer-

sity Museum. Vanessa Thaxton-Ward, PhD, curator of the

museum, welcomed us and gave us a historical overview of

the nation’s oldest African American museum. We visited

the many gallery spaces dedicated to African art, Native

American art, and African Amer-

ican art, and then Thaxton-Ward

brought us to a special exhibition

recognizing the late Elizabeth Cat-

lett. The exhibition includes prints

by the artist, many which had not

been publicly displayed before.

The day on campus was hot

and sunny as we visited other

sites on campus—including the

William R. and Norma B. Harvey

Library, home to two large murals

by artist John Biggers. House of

the Turtle and Tree House epito-

mize Biggers’ style and voice as

an artist. The paintings, which he

dedicated to women, are meta-

phors for the human experience

of growing, learning, and thinking.

Our next stop was a studio

visit with artist Kwabena Ampofo-

Anti, an art history professor at

Hampton University. This Ghana-

born ceramic sculptor shared his inspiration and creative

process with us by demonstrating how he is working on his

current project. His architectural sculptures, which range

in size from three to seven feet tall, represent houses in

Artist Sonya Clark installs her artwork from the Comb Series.

BY ERIC KEY


Ghana, although they do not conform to our traditional no-

tion that houses have four sides. His are generally round or

geometrical in shape; some stand straight up while others

seem to want to tip over. He works to create a sanctuary

through which the ancestors can communicate their “pres-

ence” to the present. Ampofo-Anti also showed us smaller

ceramic pots and explained their African symbols.

Next on the agenda was lunch at Ma Shirley’s Tasty

Delight, a small restaurant known for its southern coun-

try cooking and authentic Philippine cuisine and totally

amazing desserts. The staff was graceful and the food was

awesome, so with full stomachs, we journeyed to our next

stop on the tour—the home and studio of Richard Ward.

This Washington, D.C., native clearly is inspired by music,

jazz in particular, and Africanism. As an artist and an edu-

cator, Ward explores the movements of music in his three-

dimensional works, which are embellished with thick paint

and refurbished wooden items, paint brushes, and musical

instruments. While he is known for creating large public art

pieces with mosaic designs that incorporate glass, tiles,

and other found objects, he is also a masterful painter.

The tour ended at the warehouse studio of Guyana artist

Greg Henry, a painter and sculptor who works in metal and

wood as well as canvas and paper. He’s a Maryland Institute

College of Art graduate who currently teaches art at Chris-

topher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

Henry inspires students to paint from their hearts, and

he himself draws inspiration from his home country where

roosters roam free and bulls are part of the landscape of

everyday life. True to his heritage, these images—a rooster

sitting on the back of a bull, a rooster standing on a fence

crowing against the backdrop of the bright yellow sun, or

a house that is constructed on stilts (Guyana is below sea

level)—show up in his works.

Henry proudly shares his heritage, both in his artwork

and in conversation with visitors. His works are in various

private and public collections throughout the country,

including the Hampton University Museum. His works are

even represented in the collections of a couple of our art

colleagues on the tour! The next time you visit Ronald Rea-

gan Washington National Airport, look for his mosaic works

near the Delta security entrance.

Finally, it was time to begin the trek back to UMUC.

After a full day of appreciating art, walking across Hamp-

ton University’s campus, and eating amazing food, we all

gratefully settled into our seats on the bus. It was a quiet—

and satisfied—ride back home, but the inevitable question

came up: “Where are we going next year?”

CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: Greg Henry’s wood and metal sculpture, Bird Tree; Kwabena Ampofo-Anti gives art enthusiasts a sneak peek at his work in progress; Karma, a concrete and mosaic sculpture by artist Richard Ward



NEWS AND EVENTS

Silent Art Auction to be Held at UMUC Cyber GalaThe Arts Program is pleased to offer major,

collectible works of art by some of the area’s

emerging and established artists through a

silent auction conducted in conjunction with

the UMUC Cyber Gala on September 12,

2015. Proceeds from the auction will benefit

both the university’s cybersecurity students

and the UMUC Arts program. In addition

to supporting the university’s mission,

purchasers will be acquiring art that was

created by artists who have works in major

museums and private collections and that

has a high financial value.

The items in this year’s auction are

collectible works created by artists from

Maryland, the District of Columbia, and

Virginia. Artists who were gracious enough

to donate their works currently include David

Driskell, Joan Bevelaqua, Cynthia Johnson,

Preston Sampson, Noi Volkov, Shelia Crider,

Susan Goldman, Richard Franklin, Winston

Harris, Tim Davis, Patrick Craig, Philip Koch,

Alan Binstock, Ulysses Marshall, Helen

Zughaib, Margo Humphrey, Loring Cornish,

Matt Klos, Marcie Wolf-Hubbard, Kevin Cole,

Nina Dwyer, Tunde Odunlade, Trace Miller,

Joseph Sheppard, Anne McLaughlin, Helen

Frederick, Curlee Holton, Sharon Wolpoff,

Greg Henry, Alec Simpson, Raoul Middle-

man, Jim Adkins, Kwabena Ampofo- Anti,

David Medwith, James Phillip, and Alonzo

Davis—and the list is growing.

Auction items will be available for view-

ing on the Arts Program webpage at umuc.

edu/art. You will also be able to follow the

link to register and bid.

The auction will be handled electronically

so that the general public can bid along with

those attending the Cyber Gala. Although

you do not have to attend the gala to partici-

pate in the auction, you must register online.

You will be notified if someone outbids you

and you will be able to designate maximum

bids on items.

The electronic bidding process will open

to all registered participants on September 1,

2015, and conclude on the evening of the

auction. Bidding may continue right up until

the closing of the auction.

If you make the winning bid, you will be

able to take possession of your purchases

on the evening of the auction. If you are not

attending the gala, you can retrieve your pur-

chases at the Arts Program office in Adelphi

until September 17. At that time, all remain-

ing purchases will be shipped to the owners,

at the owners’ expense.

All purchases are final, and all purchases

must be paid for on the evening of the event.

The credit card used to register will be the

credit card used to finalize the purchase.

Also, all costs associated with shipping are

the responsibility of the purchaser or bidder.

There are no buyer’s premiums (adminis-

trative fees). Purchasers pay only for the

item and a 6 percent sales tax— as well as

shipping and packing fees, if applicable.

To be notified of auction details, e-mail

us at [email protected] or call 301-985-7937.

On behalf of the Arts Program at UMUC,

thank you in advance for your support.

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Kathryn O’Grady, Wanda’s Look, crayon, watercolor, metallic pigment on paper, 15½ X 12½ inches; David Driskell, Mask with Lobe, 2004, color woodcut, 21¼ x 21¼ inches; Cynthia Farrell Johnson, Chesapeake Bay, mixed media, gouache,acrylic and collage, 15¼ x 9 7⁄8 inches

Here is a sneak peek at a few of the items that will be auctioned off. Included are Kathryn O'Grady's watercolor duck portrait; a woodcut by David Driskell entitled Mask with Lobe; and Cynthia Farrell Johnson’s colorful seascape, Chesapeake Bay. Bid on these and many more at umuc.edu/art.


SAVE THE DATE

Upcoming Events

UMUC CYBER GALA AND SILENT ART AUCTIONSaturday, September 12, 2015, 6:30–10 p.m. Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center 201 Waterfront Street National Harbor, Maryland

DELILAH W. PIERCE NATURAL PERSPECTIVESeptember 27, 2015–January 3, 2016 UMUC Arts Program Gallery, Lower Level College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

Exhibition ReceptionSunday, November 8, 2015

Panel Discussion: “Delilah Pierce and Art”Sunday, November 8, 2015, 3–5 p.m. In conjunction with Maryland Business Summit

Floyd Coleman, PhD, art historian Jerry Langley, attorney, art researcher, and art collector Wanda Spence, great-niece of the artist Myrtis Bedolla, owner, Galerie Myrtis

Delilah Pierce (1904–1992) taught art in D.C. public schools with Washington Color School artist Alma Thomas and was very active in the local art scene as a mentor, advocate, art educator, and activist. She was inspired by her trips to Martha’s Vine-yard, Massachusetts, as well as to Africa and Europe. Pierce was known for caring about people, especially her students, and did little to promote herself or her art. This exhibition will draw attention to the work of this important local artist.

AKEMI MAEGAWA EXHIBITIONJanuary 17–April 17, 2016 UMUC Arts Program Gallery, Lower Level

Exhibition Opening Reception and Artist Talk Sunday, February 7, 2016, 3–5 p.m. Lower Level, Conference Room College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center

Eric Key, UMUC Director Akemi Maegawa, Artist

Akemi Maegawa, born in Japan, graduated from the Corcoran College of Art & Design (BFA, 2005) and the Cranbrook Academy of Art (MFA, 2007) and currently lives and works in Washington, D.C. Her works question our material world, the artist’s position in society, and cultural barriers to communication, as well as her hopes and fears. Though her work is not easily categorized, she is especially known for sculpture and ceramics. She continues to explore techniques such as incorporating and transforming found objects into works of art.

NEWS AND EVENTS

SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2016

Artists and art lovers, take note. Sunday,

Aug. 21, 2016—that’s when we will celebrate

winners of next year’s Biennial Maryland

Regional Juried Art Exhibition (BMRE), an

enormously popular event sponsored by the

UMUC Arts Program. The BMRE, designed

to draw attention to the work of seasoned

and emerging artists in Maryland, Washing-

ton, D.C., and Northern Virginia, connects

our community and brings world-class art

to our students, faculty, staff, and friends.

Look for the call for entries early next year.

Want to stay up-to-date on BMRE

dates and other UMUC Arts Program

activities? Send your contact information

to [email protected] and we’ll add you to

our mailing list.

Reini Maters Exhibition

Some 50 enthusiastic art lovers attended

the June 4 reception for impressionist

painter Reini Maters at the U.S. District

Courthouse in Greenbelt, Maryland. The

artist’s landscapes and seascapes, painted

outdoors (en plein air), were particularly

suited to this exhibition space where natural

sunlight streams through big glass windows.

UMUC has been collaborating with Judge

Peter Messitte for nearly 20 years on these

courthouse exhibitions.

ARTWORK ABOVE, TOP TO BOTTOM: Delilah W. Pierce, In Bloom, not dated, acrylic and watercolor on paper, 19 3⁄8 x 14¼ inches, Collection of Louis Ford; Akemi Maegawa, Baby Bottles with Tank, 2006, porcelain, 5½ x 2½ x 2½ inches, Collection of the artist, Courtesy of Irvine Contemporary

Get the latest updates on the UMUC Arts Program. Visit www.umuc.edu/art/newsonline

FRIENDS OF THE ARTS (January 1, 2013–present)

Sapphire-Level Friends E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation Richard Franklin Herman Maril Foundation Thomas Li Wolpoff Family Foundation

Citrine-Level Friends John and Doris Babcock Maryland State Arts Council

Platinum-Level FriendsAlvah Beander Myrtis J. Bedolla Joan Burke Bevelaqua Bonnie N. Broh-Kahn Nina Dwyer Robert W. Jerome Eric Key Anne V. Maher Michael S. Tenner Marcia R. Watson

Gold-Level FriendsKathryn Bugg Michèle E. Jacobs and Joseph V. Bowen Jr.

Silver-Level Friends Elena Gortcheva Julia Lindenmeier Raoul Middleman Peter E. Quint, Esq. Frances A. Volel-Stech Brian Young and Molly Deere

Bronze-Level FriendsNicholas H. Allen and Eva J. Allen Doreatha Bush

Harriette E. Chiavacci Pamela G. Holt Sarah Lanning Lawrence E. Mize Yoshiko Oishi-Weick Charles A. Reiher Jessica Schmidt Lydia Christina Waddler

FriendsDavid C. Bruce Tara Balfe Clifford Patricia A. DubroofJermaine A. Ellerbe Larry Frazier and Bonnie Nance FrazierJean Barbara HarrodVivian Hill Cynthia F. JohnsonTheresa A. Kulstad Robert LoyalMiriam Davina Mokuena Edith Ogella Angelo Robinson Mary Ellen Simon Steven R. Stegner Barbara R. Tollerson Alfonso V. Valentino and Sylvia L. Valentino Robert S. Warren

AssociatesHerbert Dauber John R. Lion and Jill A. LionJose Angelo Maniquis Simmy S. PapaliSonya R. Pryor Marilyn B. Wassmann

Associate (less than $35) Name recognition in the arts newsletter, invitation to exhibit openings

Friend ($35–$99) Above benefits, plus 10 percent discount on specialty items produced by the Arts Program, 10 percent discount on tickets to nonfundraising events, Arts Program lapel pin

Bronze-Level Friend ($100–$249) Above benefits, plus autographed poster from the collection

Silver-Level Friend ($250–$499) Above benefits, plus name recognition on the donors' wall in the Arts Program Gallery

Gold-Level Friend ($500–$999) Above benefits, plus full-color art catalog from a major UMUC art exhibition

Platinum-Level Friend ($1,000–$2,499) Above benefits, plus VIP invitation to dinner with the guest artist and the university president, 10 percent discount at the Common (the restaurant at the College Park Marriott Hotel & Conference Center at UMUC)

Citrine-Level Friend ($2,500–$4,999) Above benefits, plus corporate name and logo listing on UMUC Arts Program webpage, name and logo listing on all printed materials for exhibitions and public relations materials for the season

Sapphire-Level Friend ($5,000 and more) Above benefits, plus a corporate art exhibition by a local artist coordinated by UMUC (Special requirements apply; see www.umuc.edu/art for details.)

Make an Annual Contribution to the Arts ProgramArt enthusiasts in the UMUC community help make the university’s

visual arts exhibitions, educational lectures, book signings, sympo-

siums, and meet-the-artist receptions possible. Through the Friends

of the Arts program, our biggest supporters enjoy a variety of bene-

fits as a thank you for helping UMUC’s Arts Program become one of

the most recognized in Maryland.

Simply commit to making an annual contribution at one of the

following levels and you can join our growing list of friends.

Visit www.umuc.edu/art and click on “Join the Friends of the Arts Program” or call 301-985-7937. Interested in being added to our e-magazine list? Send your e-mail address to [email protected].


Documents

Art@UMUC Magazine, Fall 2015