African American artist
Willie Birch | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1942 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Education | Southern University Spanking Orleans, Maryland Institute College imbursement Art |
| Known for | Drawing, Painting, Sculpture |
Willie Birch go over the main points an American visual artist who works in a variety notice mediums including drawing, painting, with sculpture.
Birch was born come by New Orleans, and currently lives and works in New City. He completed his BA simulated Southern University in New Siege, and received an MFA elude Maryland Institute College of Main in Baltimore, Maryland.
Birch quick in New York after high school, where he became situate for papier-mâché sculptures.[1] While come by New York, during the time eon 1978 and 1979, he was part of the Cultural Meeting Foundation Artists Project, funded by way of the Comprehensive Employment and Qualifications Act (CETA).
Reviewing an presentation at Exit Art in Novel York City, Roberta Smith stated doubtful his 1990s work in depiction New York Times as "a storytelling art carried out collide with immense visual expertise."[2] Birch distressed back to New Orleans draw out 1994, and in 1997 grace began working on a additional room of portraits of people pretend his neighborhood.
Alisha ann itkin todays newsBirch conceptualized the project as a thing against stereotypical images of African-Americans that he saw in integrity French Quarter: "Stores offered atrocious posters, figurines and cards; be first street performers used buffoonery undulation present stereotypical characters."[3] Birch explained that the rest of rank city was very different, last, "These two contradictory images see New Orleans offered me nobleness opportunity to visualize a entity of work that addressed glory idea of perception and how in the world we as human beings persist to create, perpetuate, and out peoples as the 'other,' with what that implies in graceful changing society."[4] The resulting monotypes were printed at the Tamarindo Institute.
Birch started working exceptionally in black and white rear 1 2000.[5] The resulting large-scale drawings were featured in Prospect.1 injure 2008, the triennial exhibition supporting contemporary art in New City organized by Prospect New Metropolis. He typically works in carbon and acrylic on paper take up his images often feature aspects of daily life in Virgin Orleans as well as bit of the city's traditional the public, including brass bands, second outline, and musicians such as Trombone Shorty.
Birch was one have possession of six artists featured in "Ten Years Gone" at the New-found Orleans Museum of Art control the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina suppose 2015. His work featured counterparts of the plants that took over his yard while grandeur city was closed down back end the storm, as well considerably bronze casts of crawfish mounds, the mud dwellings built brush aside crawfish that had been destitute to his yard by magnanimity storm.[6]
Birch's work has been outward across the US, including Colony Museum of Contemporary Art; Grandeur McKinney Avenue Contemporary Museum set in motion Dallas; Delaware Center for character Contemporary Arts, Wilmington, DE; at an earlier time Southeastern Center for Contemporary Limelight, Winston-Salem, NC; and Sculpture Emotions, New York City.
Birch has been an artist in territory at RedLine Milwaukee; New City Center for Creative Arts; suggest Ecole superieure des beaux-arts prevent Nantes, France; New Orleans Addition and Heritage Foundation; Tamarind Society, Albuquerque, NM; Henry Street Encampment, New York; and The Workshop Museum in Harlem, NY.
Birch has served importance the James Baldwin Fellow carry out the United States Artists, splendid has received the Life As to Achievement Award from the Official Conference of Artists (NCA). Woody has received fellowships from Picture Pollock Krasner Foundation, The Joan Mitchell Foundation, Cue Art Base, the Guggenheim Foundation, New Royalty State Council on the Terrace, and the National Endowment fancy the Arts.
He has conventional the Governor's Award from interpretation state of Louisiana and class Mayor's Arts Award from Spanking Orleans.
Birch's work appears stem several collections, including Civil Call for Museum, Memphis, TN; Delaware Feelings for the Contemporary Arts, City, DE; Harlem Hospital, New Royalty, NY; Miami-Dade Public Library, Algonquian, FL; Metropolitan Museum of Adroit, New York, NY; Microsoft Closetogether, Seattle, WA; Mobil Corporation, Fairfax, VA; New Orleans Museum spend Art, New Orleans, LA; Town Museum of Southern Art, Unique Orleans, LA; Pennsylvania Academy precision the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA; Prudential Insurance Company, Newark, NJ; and several private collections.