Portfolio - collectible African American artists - Cover Story

Portfolio is our annual answer to the frequently posed question, How and where do I begin collecting "black" art? Step 1. Turn to American Visions' Portfolio. For six years running, we have showcased some of the best artists on earth, before they've become big names (and before their pieces bear big price tags). This year's seven exceptional artists do not represent AV's opinion alone; art galleries, museums and collectors weighed in with their recommendations. Remember- you heard it here first. Later, you'll hear it everywhere.

GATEWOOD WADDELL

One look, and you too, will want to join Gate wood Waddell's painted pastoral communities--even labor with them in the fields--for the reward of returning home with them to a peaceful village abundant with wildlife, playful chatter and the sweet smell of meat cooking over an open fire. Working in collage and acrylic on rice paper. Waddell achieves textures that give her paintings dimensions Her work is featured by E&S Gallery in Louisville. Ky.

FRANK E. CUMMINGS

Frank E. Cummings' "jeweled fantasies in wood" reflect the artist's extensive studies of West African sculpture. "My work is as much about ideas and emotions as it is about materials and process, explains the professor of fine arts at California State University, Fullerton School of the Arts. Sporting innovative juxtapositions that may include pink ivory wood, mother-of pearl, 18-karat gold, black pearls ebony, or sapphires, these stylish vessels play with perceptions of relationships, some of them combining elements that visually fight with one another.

KARLA REID

"Rescue me!" is what Karla Reid's painting 'Touched" seems to say, and that's exactly what painting does for the Macon, Gal, native, who was a 1996 finalist for a Guggenheim Foundation fellowship. "When I'm working," she says, "the concentration is so deep that everything comes out in the form of paint." Her brushstrokes calmly caress you, reaffirming that life is complete.

DANIEL H. HOOVER

Peer back at the suspicious faces confronting you from Daniel H. Hoover's complex mixed-media piece, and you'll see an element that he says empowers him: black hair, with all of its glorious social and political baggage. An artist-in-residence at Hammonds House Galleries in Atlanta, Hoover uses blackand-white photography and collage to document cultural identity.

OYEDELE OGINGA

Oyedele Oginga's hardwood carvings, whether functional (as doors, plaques, panels) or purely decorative, present a neatly ordered universe. His intricate designs allude to regal aspects of black history. "Visual images in black cultures are important in uplifting our spirit and identity," says the Denver-based craftsman. "These images should be treasured through the appreciation and support of our own people."

BRENDA SINGLETARY

Brenda Singletary paints emotions. Whether her settings are bleak or lush, the people who inhabit them convey passion. The peaceful moment at the bus stop could end at any moment with an eruption from one of the three upstanding citizens sitting there, in silent commiseration over their daily routines. Singletary's work is featured at her Brenda Singletary Art Gallery in Stone Mountain, Ga.

MICHAEL SINGLETARY

If you've seen Michael Singletary's painting "Chicken Eaters," then you know that the New York artist creates from his soul. His paintings tell stories that aren't always flattering (they may even cause discomfort), but they ring so true. "I am a painter who paints everything, with no excuses on how it is received," he says. Singletary communicates through body language. His figures' postures shout at you. In "Strange Fruit," from his Black Male series, Singletaly's choice of colors and patterns is striking.

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