Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn was filled with top caliber artists by way of the wall space of a small gallery known by the Borough simply as The Bishop.

The show, with its expansive range, spanned generations of cultural richness, including living legends like Abstract Expressionist painter Ed Clark; and muralist, poet and civil rights activist Emmett Wigglesworth.

 

Ed Clark "Untitled"

Ed Clark is one of the early experimenters with shaped canvas in the 1950's whose style was shaped by the years he spent in Paris. Raised in the segregated South, he found Paris tolerant, and the atmosphere encouraging. While there, he developed a sophisticated abstract style. His early work is remembered for his "push-broom technique," which encouraged his full physical involvement in painting. He is also noted for the monumental scale of his work. His works are included in the permanent collections of more than a dozen museums and institutions, including The Art Institute of Chicago, the Studio Museum in Harlem, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, to name a few.

Dick Griffin "Africa Melts"

Dick Griffin is a legendary jazz trombonist and painter whose music career spans over 40 years and consist of working with luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Tito Puente, just to name a few. Like his music, Griffin’s paintings are influenced from his experience. His abstract paintings and works on paper have been featured in numerous solo and group exhibitions, private and corporate collections in both the U.S. and Europe. Some of his early pieces grace the covers of each of his four CDs.

Emmett Wigglesworth "Flying"

Emmett Wigglesworth is a muralist, painter, sculptor, fabric designer, poet and civil rights activist. His mural commissions include private homes, PS 181 Elementary School in Brooklyn, NY, the NY Cultural Council, Metropolitan Transit Authority, Kings County Hospital, Abyssinian Development Corporation and the Brooklyn New York Children’s Center.

Nanette Carter "Cantilevered #24"

Nanette Carter is referred to by many as a visual storyteller. Carter has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the National Endowment for the Arts and The New York Foundation for the Arts award. Her works are represented in many museums across the United States including the Studio Museum of Harlem, The Newark Museum, The Shomberg Library in New York, and The Library of Congress in Washington, DC.

 

Norman Lewis "Untitled" Charcoal on Paper

Norman Lewis was a leading African-American painter and an important member of the Abstract Expressionism movement, who also used representational strategies to focus on black urban life and his community's struggles. In 1955, Lewis became the first African-American artist to receive the Carnegie International Award.

 

Samuel Adoquei "Rodney" 

Ghanaian 21st Century master painter Samuel Adoquei is the author of Origin of Inspiration, which taps into three decades of experience to prove that any creative mind can find enduring inspiration to guide one's dreams until you achieve your goals. Adoquei paints landscapes and commissioned portraits, and teaches art at the National Academy School. His triptych of Martin Luther King Jr. was part of a traveling exhibition honoring Dr. King, and was sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.

 

Faheem Majeed "Hopscotch 2"

Faheem Majeed is a builder—literally and metaphorically. A resident of the South Shore neighborhood in Chicago, Majeed often looks to the material makeup of his neighborhood and surrounding areas as an entry point into larger questions around civic-mindedness, community activism, and institutional racism. Majeed transforms materials such as particle board, scrap metal and wood, and discarded signs and billboard remnants, breathing new life into these often overlooked and devalued materials. In 2015, Majeed had his first solo museum exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art at Chicago and was selected as a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant Recipient. Currently, he is working on a large scale collaborative project entitled the Floating Museum which blends creative place-making, activism and exhibition design to make a platform for conversations and community engagement.

Jules Arthur "The Lion of Africa"

Jules Arthur's works reveal personal moments of pride and introspection, of struggle and triumph. The result is sometimes touched by a haunting sense of despair, but far more often Jules shows us hardship yielding to internal beauty, dignity, uplift and hope. His visualizations are rendered with the deft draftsmanship of a skillful artisan and technician. Arthur variously employs a wide range of art medium techniques, from charcoal to oil painting, and enjoys the creative use of woods, metals, paper, leather and more often, in a multi-media mix presentation.

Charles Jean-Pierre "The Fire Next Time #1 and #2"

Charles Philippe Jean-Pierre’s multimedia paintings speak to the nexus of political, social, and economic structures. His artistic expression was birthed on Chicago’s south side. He is a U.S. State Department Art in Embassies Artist, and his work is in the permanent collection of the U.S. Embassy in Cotonou, Benin West Africa. Jean-Pierre was a 2015 White House invitee for the role of art education in promoting national youth justice. He was named top 5 arts educators by the District of Columbia.