AFRICAN METROPOLIS PROFILES in ART

HIGH POINTS IN DAVID C. DRISKELL’S CAREER

AS AUTHOR; ARTIST, TEACHER, SCHOLAR, ART HISTORIAN & CONSULTANT

AUTHOR: He authored 5 exhibition books, 40 Catalogs from exhibitions he has Curated on African American Art.

TEACHER: Between 1955 and 1997 Driskell taught art at Talladega College Howard and Fisk Universities. He was visiting professor of Art at Bowdoin College, University of Michigan, Queens College, and Obafemi Awolowo (formerly University of Ife) in Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

He joined the Art. Department faculty at the University of Maryland in 1977 and served as its chairman from '78 to '83. In 1995 he received the DISTINGUISHED UNIVERSITY OF PROFESSOR OF ART, at the University of Maryland, a title he still holds. To the Bottom

ART HISTORICAL/CONSULTANT: He is cited as one of the world's leading authorities on African American Art.

Driskell is one of the commissioners of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art and the Amistad Research Center Since 1977 he has served as Cultural advisor to Camille and Bill Cosby and curator of the Cosby Collection of Fine Arts.

In 1995 President and Mrs. Clinton asked Driskell to select an art work by an African American artist for permanent display in the White House. Henry O. Tanner's SAND DUNES AT SUNSET: ATLANTIC CITY was unveiled and installed in a ceremony in the Garden Room on October 29, 1996.

In 1989 Driskell's contribution t.o the interpretation of African American art history in the documentary HIDDEN HERITAGE, The Roots of African American Painting was produced by CUE Films of London for British Television.

In 1977 he wrote and narrated an hour long program on African Americana HIDDEN HERITAGE, commissioned by CBS television. It won a CBS award and appeared for three consecutive years following its initial airing.

He Curated the Bicentennial Exhibition for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, entitled TWO CENTURIES OF BLACK AMERICAN ART: 1750-1950. Published by Alfred Knoff, 1976. Other exhibitions with accompanying books include:

HIDDEN HERITAGE: AFRO-AMERICAN ART, 1800-1950

HARLEM RENAISSANCE: ART OF BLACK AMERICA, an Abrams Publication 1957

CONTEMPORARY VISUAL EXPRESSIONS, Smithsonian Press,

AFRICAN AMERICAN VISUAL AESTHETICS: A POST MODERNIST VIEW, Smithsonian Press 1995.

Driskell has lectured at many art institutions and universities in America ropers Africa and South America. To mention a few include: The National Gallery of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Brooklyn Museums art Institute of Chicago, Harvard University, Haverford College, University of California at Berkeley.

In 1996, 65 stained glass windows, designed by Driskell, were installed in the newly renovated Deforest Chapel at Talladega College his first teaching assignment in 1955, in Talladega Alabama.

Driskell, a Prolific painter, works have been exhibited in many galleries and museums.; and requests for his newer works continue to be sought. for display.

He maintains three residence with his wife Thelma, Hyattsville, MD., Falmouth, Maine and New York City.

Credit and Notes: painting titled "MASK WITH LEAVES", 1997, mixed media, size is 14" X 11". From the Margaret H. Traylor collection.

EverythingBlack.com

Revised: August 26, 2000.
Copyright © 1998 by Dr. David C. Driskell, Visual Arts Illustrated and Vai Prints & Publications. All rights reserved. All trademarks or product names mentioned herein are the property of their respective owners.