Robert Freeman: New Works (2016)

ROBERT FREEMAN

NEW WORKS

Statement by the Artist, Robert Freeman

The African American community is as complex as any other. It has no single voice, no single way of seeing the world, and no single way of producing art, music, literature or theater. My paintings explore and celebrate the beauty, elegance and grace of the black middle class through my personal experience.

Commissioned for an exhibition at Adelson Galleries Boston, New Works is inspired by my childhood spent between two cultures: the Gold Coast, West Africa (now Ghana) and the East Coast of the United States. In New Works I revisit the themes of race and culture that I explored in “Black Tie” (1981), part of a series that comments on the personal conflict I felt as African-Americans settled into middle-class life following the racial tensions of the 1960s and 1970s. Although much has changed in 35 years— including the election of the nation’s first African American President— questions of identity and inclusion remain.

New Works includes eight oil paintings of African Americans at formal social events. The figures in my latest series are more engaging and the colors more intense than in my previous work.

Ashanti Gold (Triptych, middle panel, detail)

Step Sisters (Diptych), 2016, Oil on canvas, 60 x 44 inches each

The Sundowners (Triptych), 2016, Oil on canvas, 60 x 38 inches, 72 x 96 inches, 60 x 40 inches

Ashanti Gold (Triptych), 2016, Oil on canvas, 62 x 46 inches, 62 x 42 inches, 62 x 42 inches

Ashanti Gold (Triptych)

2016

Oil on canvas

62 x 46 inches, 62 x 42 inches, 62 x 42 inches

$42,000

Couples 17

2016

Oil on canvas

14 x 11 inches

$3,000

Couples 18

2016

Oil on canvas 14 x 11 inches

$3,000

Couples 19

2016

Oil on canvas 14 x 11 inches

$3,000

Couples 21

2016

Oil on canvas

16 x 13 inches

$3,400

Couples 22

2016

Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches

$3,400

Couples 23

2016 Oil on canvas 16 x 13 inches

$3,400

Golden Necklace 6

2016

Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches

$8,000

Golden Necklace 7

2016

Oil on canvas 30 x 24 inches

$8,000

Golden Necklace 8

2016

Oil on canvas 44 x 30 inches

$15,000

Hands On

2016 Oil on canvas 40 x 30 inches

$9,000

The Interlude

2016 Oil on canvas 60 x 40 inches

$15,000

The Introduction

2016 Oil on canvas 44 x 30 inches

$12,000

Party Lines

2016

Oil on canvas 56 x 42 inches

$15,000

Step Sisters (Diptych)

2016

Oil on canvas 60 x 44 inches each

$27,000

The Sundowners (Triptych)

2016 Oil on canvas 60 x 38 inches, 72 x 96 inches, 60 x 40 inches

$50,000