Portrayed in the painting above is the American artist, Didier William, painted by the artist, Ligel Lambert . William’s work reaffirms and reclaims art practices and spiritual beliefs that had been hidden in order to survive, and that are now finding public appreciation in the Caribbean and beyond. He is currently Assistant Professor of Expanded Print at Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Ligel Lambert is dedicated to representing powerful figures who are inspirational Black artists and professors. Ligel is an interdisciplinary artist, adjunct professor at RMCAD, graphic designer, and entrepreneur born in Cap-Haïtien, Haiti; he became a US citizen on October 16, 2003, while serving in the United States Marine Corps and currently resides in New York City, United States. He has lived and worked in Japan, South Korea, China, and the US. His artistic skills span painting, collage, printmaking, assemblage, and sculpture. Ligel holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Interdisciplinary Art/Painting from the Royal Melbourne Institute (RMIT) University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (2013). He also completed a Master's in Education (M.Ed.) in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida, USA (2021). He holds a Bachelor of Fine Art (BFA) in Graphic Design (2011).
The Black Male Artist Professor Series aims to showcase and celebrate the accomplishments of Black male visual artists/art or art education professors (must be both) who have made significant contributions to the art world or art education and have taught or are currently teaching in visual art and/or art education programs at historically White colleges and universities in the United States. The series will showcase paintings inspired by Fauvism's stylistic traditions, created using a combination of acrylic and oil paints and incorporating symbolic references associated with each subject. To maintain consistency, every painting will be of a standard size of 36" x 48", while unique techniques will be employed to represent each subject. The series will comprise of 20 to 25 paintings.
The list below features more than 25 Black male artists/professors because the series may be extended as this series develops. Robert Reed, Aaron Douglas, Charles White, William T. Williams, Stanley Whitney, Imo Nse Imeh, Rudy Shepherd, Derek Adams, Mark Thomas Gibson, Odili Donald Odita, Larry Walker, Nick Cave, Lyle Ashton Harris, Noel W. Anderson, Glenn Ligon, Yinka Shonibare, Charly Palmer, David Driskell, Joseph Norman, Stephen Carpenter II, Paul S. Briggs, Charles Henry Alston, Robert Blackburn, Meleko Mokgosi, Jack Whitten, Norman W. Lewis, Julian T. White, Rodney McMillian, Kevin Cole, Juan Logan, Sharif Bey, Bernard Young, Lee Ransaw, and Louis Jessup Delsarte III.
Ligel plans to spend the next year painting 14 to 19 more of the gentlemen listed above in the series and will publish a book commemorating their contributions and impact on our society and how they have shaped visual art and art education. The book will be available online and the collection will first be pitched to art museums in the US for exhibition. (The book cover design can be seen above)
To learn more about Ligel Lambert’s symbolic representations of inspirational artists and professors, visit: here
To stay connected and view more of Ligel Lambert’s work, visit: www.ligel.com