Sherman Beck USA, b. 1942
First Family
Oil on canvas
30 x 26 in
76.2 x 66 cm
76.2 x 66 cm
6988
First Family by Sherman Beck depicts three naked figures emerging from a field of geometric patterns. The choice not to dress the figures was made because Beck did not want...
First Family by Sherman Beck depicts three naked figures emerging from a field of geometric patterns. The choice not to dress the figures was made because Beck did not want to place the figures in context with any particular time period or place. The idea of them being the first family could relate to literal firsts, like original Indigenous African peoples; it could also relate to the young enslaved people who were brought over to America from Africa in the prime of their life. Beck chose the number three as a metaphorical reference. “I think in terms of the religious triangles, the trinity, or Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, or Osiris, Isis, and Horus,” says Beck. “I’m also thinking of a family unit as opposed to just a bunch of separate people in a bad circumstance. I could state it family first, but I call it first family.”
Provenance
Select ExhibitionsMOCA North Miami
AFRICOBRA50, Kavi Gupta Gallery Chicago
Temple Gallery
Exhibitions
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS2018 AFRICOBRA: Messages to the People, MOCA North Miami, Miami FL AFRICOBRA 50, Kavi Gupta Gallery, Chicago, IL
2013 Which Way Our Children…? African American Reflections, Chicago Temple Art Gallery, IL Maleness to Manhood: Reclamation of the Young Black Male, South Side Community Art Center Africobra and Beyond, DuSable Museum of African American History
2011 A Diaspora Rhythm, Elmhurst College, IL
2008 Sherman Beck: Realms & Abstractions, African American Cultural Center, University of Illinois, Chicago
2007 Beautiful Spaces and Places, ETA Gallery, Chicago, IL
2005 Images of the Past: Collection of Artwork from the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s, South Side Community Art Center, Chicago, IL
1971 Africobra II, Studio Museum in Harlem
1970 Africobra I: Ten in Search of a Nation, Studio Museum in Harlem 1969 Contemporary Black Art, Roosevelt University, IL