Spiral Group Show

Current works by Richard Mayhew

Spiral was a group of African-American artist that exhibited their work together in the 1960’s. This show at Evolve the Gallery is the first time since then that the 15 members have been shown together. This group of artists originally came together because of similar thoughts on the role of African-American artists in a changing American society. This was when civil-rights issues were very much a topic of conversation as well as a fight for many across the United States. This group of artists is diverse in terms of style, technique as well as choice of medium.

 

Alvin Hollingsworth, Harmony, 1970, Acrylic and ink on masonite 

While walking through this show I was very surprised to see such a range of styles and mediums. Usually when I think about an art group I expect their work to be really similar, distinguishable, but still similar, I did not get that from this show. The work ranged from painting to collage to linoleum cut prints as well as from abstract to realism. This exhibit contained mostly older works, except for new works by the artist Richard Mayhew, him along with Emma Amos are the last two remaining members of Spiral.

                                                                             

Hale Woodruff, Trusty On a Mule 
c.1935,  linoleum cut on cream
 wove paper

Hale Woodruff, Coming Home, 
c. 1935, linoleum cut on cream
wove paper

                       

The work that I enjoyed the most was by the artist Hale Woodruff (pictured above). His work was so different than anything else in the show and included linoleum cut prints on paper. The carefully cut lines of these prints are amazing. The precision of each line and simple outlined areas in shadow make these prints seem like ink pen drawings rather than linoleum cut prints. The imagery is simple yet tells a story of a time much different from now.

Richard Mayhew and Myself

Along with the Spiral: American Masters show Evolve the Gallery had a special surprise 90^th Birthday party for Richard Mayhew one of the last surviving members. I was fortunate enough to attend this event and meet Mr. Mayhew. That night I hear him speak about becoming an artist and his life since spiral. Mayhew had the energy of a 20 year old; he bounced from table to table the night of his party sharing stories and laughing with family members who he had not seen in years. He shared a story with the party of how he did not originally intend to make a career out of being an artist. He said he originally wanted to be a singer, so he did his art on the side as a stress reliever. But when his singing career did not take off and his artistic career did, he decided to change paths in life and is now very successful because of it.

Merton D. Simpson, Untitled (from Confrontation Series), 1963, Oil on paper

The night of his party Mayhew thanked Evolve the Gallery for being the first gallery to bring together the Spiral group since the 60’s. I thought this show was amazing for the simple fact that I know the hard work that went into trying to find many of the pieces for this show. Some of these artists did not have a very successful career and it was difficult to track down works of theirs to put in the show. But in the end everything came together and I was glad to be a part of it and experience the Spiral group first hand.

Charles Alston, Figures in a Cityscape, c. 1960, watercolor on paper