Dreamwork-in Memory of Jimmy Vann

Dick Jemison

1988

See More of the Collection

Cross-shaped male figure
Bama Drive-in, Mobile, Al., James Beeland Bissell, hand-tinted gelatin silver print
From My Back Porch, Walter Beckham, gelatin silver print
Painted linen canvas, bordered by blue canvas. Kente accents on the top and bottom borders and white canvas pictured with women’s stocking-ed legs accent the left and right borders. There is also a smaller yellow canvas border at the top. Each corner of the painting’s image is anchored by hands that are encased in circular forms with web-like backgrounds. The painting’s image is also divided into three sections. The left section has a black background, created by broad, quick brush strokes. The background also includes cut pieces of Kente cloth, string, and other printed fabric. The faceless, ghost-like figure wears a black hat and white gloves. This figure also holds a paint brush in its right hand. Primarily the figure holds a picture of a bronze female nude. The central section’s background is comprised of an essay on Greek art, with the lettering faded out in areas closest to the central figure’s body. The figure in this portion of the painting is a young black woman, wrapped in Kente cloth at the waist, but whose breasts are exposed. She wears a simple necklace, as well as rings, bracelets, and head kerchief. Her body is visually dissected at the neck, pelvis, and knees by painted portions of a yellow measuring tape. Next to her figure in the center of the painting itself is half of a circular textile – words read: EN NAWTORO and NON WATTA KO BURK. This particular piece also includes imagery of an African woman with her child on her back, throwing a ceramic bowl. The right side of the painting contains the third and last figure. Set upon a yellow background composed of yellow, black, blue, and red paints applied in quick, broad, scribbled brush strokes and drip patterns. The figure itself is a picture of the 5th century Greek Kritios Boy. His form is delineated by a heavy blue outline and Amos also exaggerated the figure’s curly hair. The bottom right side of the painting is comprised of a red-orange background, also created by busy, broad brush and drip patterns. The painting’s title is rendered in yellow canvas, centered within the blue canvas border at the bottom of the piece.