Black History Month is a perfect opportunity to explore the multifaceted world of Black art. Each year, RJD Gallery honors Black History Month with an annual exhibition celebrating Black artists and their creations. February is just the beginning of the gallery’s yearlong focus on artists of color whose works deserve attention beyond the 28 days of February. This year’s Black History exhibition, Free at Last, features realist artist Alex Bostic. This collection of paintings centers on Juneteenth, the day of emancipation for slaves in Texas after the end of the Civil War and more than two years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Each of Bostic’s works reveals the joy, uncertainty and hope of freedom and a new life.
Bostic, a Brooklyn native, fell in love with art at an early age, later attending visual arts classes at the prestigious Pratt Institute on the weekends. He graduated with a BFA in illustration from Pratt and an MFA in illustration from Syracuse University. Now a working artist and an associate professor at Mississippi State University, Bostic continues to create works that reveal the beauty and depth of emotion that lie within his subjects.
Black art has existed throughout the history of this country: from the poetry of Phillis Wheatley, the paintings of Henry Ossawa Tanner and the sculpture of Edmonia Lewis to the trailblazing artists of today. Black art is extraordinary in its breadth of themes and in its often poignant storytelling. We invite you to view Free at Last online, or visit a gallery or museum near you showcasing Black artists. Black art, like Black history, is for everyone.
RJD Gallery, formerly located in Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton, New York, is currently located in Romeo, Michigan, where owner Richard Demato still serves his New York, tristate-area and global clients with intriguing selections of art from established and emerging artists specializing in magical realism, narrative portraiture and figurative realism. rjdgallery.com