“David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History” Is on View at the Portland Museum of Art

The Portland Museum of Art is now hosting “David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History,” a comprehensive survey of Driskell’s art spanning seven decades.

PORTLAND, MAINE, US, August 4, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The Portland Museum of Art in Portland, ME, is now hosting “David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History,” a comprehensive survey of Driskell’s art spanning seven decades, from the 1950s to 2020. The exhibition reveals the influence of the artist’s sojourns to Africa, Europe, and South America, as well as aesthetic inheritances from his family and home, the South, and his education at the Catholic University of America, the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, and Howard University. “Icons of Nature and History” is on view at the Portland Museum of Art through September 12, 2021.

David Driskell (1931-2020) was a notable American artist, art historian, and curator, who is widely regarded as one of the leading authorities on the subject of African-American Art in the world. His incredible contribution to the field can hardly be overstated. Throughout his art career, Driskell mounted and curated a number of important exhibitions of work by Black artists, including the renowned “Two Centuries of Black American Art,” a traveling exhibit of African-American art organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 1976. David Driskell was also the recipient of ten honorary doctoral degrees and held the title of Distinguished University Professor of Art, Emeritus, at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Driskell’s artistic practice is very diverse. His art includes painting, drawing, printmaking, collage, and mixed media combining different techniques. The artist worked in figurative and abstract art, utilized stretched and unstretched canvas, and used a whole range of materials, including oil paint, acrylic, marker, ink, gouache, and egg tempera, among others. This all makes his work challenging to categorize, but what remains constant is Driskell’s commitment to a symbolic form elevating both the mind and the spirit above that existing in the physical world.

“Icons of Nature and History” at the Portland Museum of Art is a tribute exhibition celebrating the genius of David Driskell whose artistic evolution is marked by distinctive experiences, eras, and art experiments. It invites visitors to see the world through the eyes of the prominent artist, moving the center of critical art history to the places where Driskell lived and worked – Washington, DC, Falmouth, Nashville, Hyattsville, and Talladega. It also gives an opportunity to take a closer look at American art and many contributions made to it by historically Black colleges and universities.

“David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History” is co-organized by the Portland Museum of Art and the High Museum of Art, with the support of The Phillips Collection. The exhibition runs through September 12, 2021.

Ilya Kushnirskiy
300Magazine
+1 917-658-5075
info@300magazine.com
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