“It’s fun to fail. You learn something: how not to fail.”
Artist Sam Gilliam
Sam Gilliam, an African American color field painter and lyrical abstractionist artist, passed away on June 25, 2022 at the age of 88. He worked on stretched, draped and wrapped canvas, and added sculptural 3D elements. He was recognized as the first artist to introduce the idea of a draped, painted canvas hanging without stretcher bars around 1965. Gilliam was associated with the Washington Color School, a group located in Washington, D.C. area where artists developed a form of abstract art from color field painting in the 1950s and 1960s. His works have also been described as belonging to abstract expressionism and lyrical abstraction. This was a major contribution to the Color Field School and has had a lasting impact on contemporary art today. His later works are textured paintings that incorporate metal forms.
Gilliam was born in Tupelo, Mississippi in 1933, attended the University of Louisville, and moved to Washington, D.C in 1962 where he lived and worked out of his studio for the remainder on his life.
The class was exposed to a variety African and African American artists and art to use as references in applications of certain elements and principles. The workshop helped those who attended build confidence and inspired them to activate and engage their creativity.
This class was part of SDCC’s New Years, New Skills creative workshop series.