The Studio@620 presents “MYAFRIKA-ART”, an exhibition of original works by Gary L. Lemons. Gary forges a connection between color, pattern, and spiritual energy.
“My artistic longing has always been to connect to my cultural history rooted in African principles of color, shape, patterns, and designs that are as old as the creative Spirit of humankind”, he writes in his artist statement.
Join us for the opening reception on Saturday February 10, 2018 as part of Second Saturday ArtWalk from 5-9PM. Free admission.

The STudio@620 is stop #13 on the ArtWalk Trolley!

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I believe that art should inspire all individuals to connect to the creative gifts the Divine Spirit has given us—whether they be through our voices, our physical movement, our writing, and/or our hands to envision that which lies beyond the limits of visual perception. Art should challenge us to see beyond the material world—opening us up to the place of imaginative realization. It is in this place we begin to see worlds of creative power we have never witnessed before. Art allows us to be present in these new worlds where we can live in, love freely, and lavish joyfully in the creative inspiration of Divine calling. Through the Divine’s gifts of imaginative power—our mind, body, and spirit unite in one to express the inexpressible across all our differences.

MYAFRIKA-ART offers you insight into my own personal vision of creative spiritual healing and transformation. My artistic longing has always been to connect to my cultural history rooted in African principles of color, shape, patterns, and designs that are as old as the creative Spirit of humankind.The one element that is the unifying figure in all of my paintings is the power of movement within a context of geometric configurations. I also include mirrors in many of my paintings and other two-dimensional forms and shapes to bring the one-dimensional surface of the canvas to life—beyond a flat, lifeless surface. In particular, mirrors in my paintings allow the viewer to become a part of the art itself.I believe that we all—in the insightfulness of the Divine Spirit—were created to become artistic beings with figurative “voices” of expressivity. My paintings speak out to all people—across differences of race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, generation, abilities, religions, and nation-state affiliation(s) (in and beyond the U.S.).

Because of the boldness of colors, shapes, mirrors, and African patterns I bring together in my paintings—as an “African” American artist—I challenge viewers of my work to take a deeper look into that which I seek to represent.My desire is that each viewer comprehends the meaning of the colors, shapes, and patterns in ways that speak personally to her/him that I may not necessarily comprehend.For me, the viewer creates what s/he desires to see realistically, imaginatively, and symbolically in my work. In some of my paintings that include mirrors, they appear broken and in others they are circular, square, or diamond shaped.For me, these different shapes of mirrors represent various aspects, experiences, and periods of the viewer’s life.

In truth, for many viewers of my paintings, the different shapes and patterns of movement illustrate moments in her/his life when the individual may have experienced feelings of brokenness, like pieces of shattered glass.Even in these times, however, I maintain that one’s life is still beautiful—that each viewer is on a journey toward completeness—as s/he moves through physical and/or psychological pain, emotional heartaches, or moments of self-doubt. Finally, my vision for MYAFRIKA-ART is to create portraits of creative being rooted in the beauty of all life that originally began in the continent of Africa. Ultimately in my artistic vision, I aim to challenge viewers of my paintings to find the artist in themselves.

The Studio@620 presents “MYAFRIKA-ART”, an exhibition of original works by Gary L. Lemons. Gary forges a connection between color, pattern, and spiritual energy.
“My artistic longing has always been to connect to my cultural history rooted in African principles of color, shape, patterns, and designs that are as old as the creative Spirit of humankind”, he writes in his artist statement.
Join us for the opening reception on Saturday February 10, 2018 as part of Second Saturday ArtWalk from 5-9PM. Free admission.

The STudio@620 is stop #13 on the ArtWalk Trolley!

ARTIST’S STATEMENT
I believe that art should inspire all individuals to connect to the creative gifts the Divine Spirit has given us—whether they be through our voices, our physical movement, our writing, and/or our hands to envision that which lies beyond the limits of visual perception. Art should challenge us to see beyond the material world—opening us up to the place of imaginative realization. It is in this place we begin to see worlds of creative power we have never witnessed before. Art allows us to be present in these new worlds where we can live in, love freely, and lavish joyfully in the creative inspiration of Divine calling. Through the Divine’s gifts of imaginative power—our mind, body, and spirit unite in one to express the inexpressible across all our differences.

MYAFRIKA-ART offers you insight into my own personal vision of creative spiritual healing and transformation. My artistic longing has always been to connect to my cultural history rooted in African principles of color, shape, patterns, and designs that are as old as the creative Spirit of humankind.The one element that is the unifying figure in all of my paintings is the power of movement within a context of geometric configurations. I also include mirrors in many of my paintings and other two-dimensional forms and shapes to bring the one-dimensional surface of the canvas to life—beyond a flat, lifeless surface. In particular, mirrors in my paintings allow the viewer to become a part of the art itself.I believe that we all—in the insightfulness of the Divine Spirit—were created to become artistic beings with figurative “voices” of expressivity. My paintings speak out to all people—across differences of race/ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, generation, abilities, religions, and nation-state affiliation(s) (in and beyond the U.S.).

Because of the boldness of colors, shapes, mirrors, and African patterns I bring together in my paintings—as an “African” American artist—I challenge viewers of my work to take a deeper look into that which I seek to represent.My desire is that each viewer comprehends the meaning of the colors, shapes, and patterns in ways that speak personally to her/him that I may not necessarily comprehend.For me, the viewer creates what s/he desires to see realistically, imaginatively, and symbolically in my work. In some of my paintings that include mirrors, they appear broken and in others they are circular, square, or diamond shaped.For me, these different shapes of mirrors represent various aspects, experiences, and periods of the viewer’s life.

In truth, for many viewers of my paintings, the different shapes and patterns of movement illustrate moments in her/his life when the individual may have experienced feelings of brokenness, like pieces of shattered glass.Even in these times, however, I maintain that one’s life is still beautiful—that each viewer is on a journey toward completeness—as s/he moves through physical and/or psychological pain, emotional heartaches, or moments of self-doubt. Finally, my vision for MYAFRIKA-ART is to create portraits of creative being rooted in the beauty of all life that originally began in the continent of Africa. Ultimately in my artistic vision, I aim to challenge viewers of my paintings to find the artist in themselves.