Sherman Beck b. 1942, USA
Ancestors, 1998
Oil on canvas
30 x 40 in
76.2 x 101.6 cm
76.2 x 101.6 cm
6836
Further images
Sherman Beck (USA) has studied art all of his life. He was one of the original 10 members of AFRICOBRA. “I attended Dunbar Vocational High School in Chicago during the...
Sherman Beck (USA) has studied art all of his life. He was one of the original 10 members of AFRICOBRA.
“I attended Dunbar Vocational High School in Chicago during the years when school pride was common,” says Beck. “The late, great, Garrett Whyte was our teacher back then. He motivated many students who became successful artists. I attended classes with serious, notable artists like, Omar Lama, Kush Bey, Seitu Nurullah, and others. Our predecessors were artists such as Jose Williams and Edward Strong. The environment was fertile and the school produced an exceptional number of people like Bernard Shaw, Haki Madhubuti and others. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Beck did further studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. He worked as a commercial artist, and apprenticed at advertising agencies in display, sign and filmstrip, and he also worked as a freelance illustrator. He returned to his alma mater, Dunbar High School, and worked for twenty-two years, the longest term of a commercial art teacher there.
About his work, Beck says, “ I have studied various schools of painting and admire the passion in Van Gogh’s work. I like Monet, Dali, and especially like Victor Vasarely’s optical illusion. I was influenced by AFRICOBRA’s philosophy of making aesthetic contributions to the Black community and addressing the needs of the community by making affordable reproductions.
“I attended Dunbar Vocational High School in Chicago during the years when school pride was common,” says Beck. “The late, great, Garrett Whyte was our teacher back then. He motivated many students who became successful artists. I attended classes with serious, notable artists like, Omar Lama, Kush Bey, Seitu Nurullah, and others. Our predecessors were artists such as Jose Williams and Edward Strong. The environment was fertile and the school produced an exceptional number of people like Bernard Shaw, Haki Madhubuti and others. A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Beck did further studies at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago. He worked as a commercial artist, and apprenticed at advertising agencies in display, sign and filmstrip, and he also worked as a freelance illustrator. He returned to his alma mater, Dunbar High School, and worked for twenty-two years, the longest term of a commercial art teacher there.
About his work, Beck says, “ I have studied various schools of painting and admire the passion in Van Gogh’s work. I like Monet, Dali, and especially like Victor Vasarely’s optical illusion. I was influenced by AFRICOBRA’s philosophy of making aesthetic contributions to the Black community and addressing the needs of the community by making affordable reproductions.
Provenance
Select ExhibitionsMOCA North Miami
AFRICOBRA50, Kavi Gupta Gallery Chicago
Temple Gallery
Exhibitions
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS2018 AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People, MOCA North Miami, Miami FL AFRICOBRA 50, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
2013 Which Way Our Children…? African American Reflections, Chicago Temple Art Gallery, IL Maleness to Manhood: Reclamation of the Young Black Male, South Side Community Art Center Africobra and Beyond, DuSable Museum of African American History
2011 A Diaspora Rhythm, Elmhurst College, IL
2008 Sherman Beck: Realms & Abstractions, African American Cultural Center, University of Illinois, Chicago
2007 Beautiful Spaces and Places, ETA Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 Images of the Past: Collection of Artwork from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL
1971 Africobra II, Studio Museum in Harlem
1970 Africobra I: Ten in Search of a Nation, Studio Museum in Harlem 1969 Contemporary Black Art, Roosevelt University, IL