An amazing African-American artist you may not be familiar with

March 22, 2024 11:00 AM

AN EXHIBITION BY Houston-based artist David McGee is always a cause for celebration. A master of portraiture, modernism and abstraction, with works in the permanent collections of museums across the country, McGee, like many artists, clung to his practice like a lifeline throughout the worst months of the pandemic and the political upheaval that still plagues the country today. His new and highly anticipated show at Inman Gallery, The Tarot Cards and The Gloria Paintings (Sept. 16 – Nov. 1), is infused with that resilience, and is his most politically charged, and deeply personal exhibition to date.

The Gloria paintings are dedicated to MCGee's mother, during her fight with cancer.

For a broader selction of McGee's works, visit the webpage of the Inman Gallery.

Short video interviews:
Arts InSight: David McGee
Twenty Questions: David McGee's First Encounter with Art
David McGee: Crying with Vermeer

posted by bq (2 comments total)

Thank you for posting this. A deep dive later on but what I've seen so far makes me want to see more.
posted by Phlegmco(tm) at 12:10 PM on March 22

The Anointed is very interesting, though I don't think I understand it yet. Obviously a callback to Las Meñinas (and of course Velazquez was famously a slave-owner).
posted by praemunire at 2:10 PM on March 22