Sherman Beck: Kavi Gupta, 835 W Washington Blvd.

This portrait memorializes Shirley Chisholm. Born in Brooklyn in 1924, Chisholm became the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus and of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and the first Black woman to be a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States. Here, Beck portrays Chisholm as she appeared on January 25, 1972, as she announced her candidacy for President. Rather than posing her turned to the side as she is in most photographs of the moment, Beck portrays Chisholm facing straight ahead, and has modified the geometry of Chisholm’s dress from rectangles to wavy, linear patterns, He has also expanded the five-band silver necklace Chisholm wore on the day into a five-band red, green, and black necklace, representative of the colors of the Pan-African flag. According to the The Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League, which adopted the flag in 1920, “Red is the color of the blood which men must shed for their redemption and liberty; black is the color of the noble and distinguished race to which we belong; green is the color of the luxuriant vegetation of our Motherland.” On Chisholm’s gravestone, the epitaph reads, “Unbought and Unbossed,” the same slogan she used in her Presidential run.

This portrait by Sherman Beck memorializes the most famous photograph of Black inventor and draftsman Lewis Latimer, dressed in a black double breasted coat, button up vest, and polka dot ascot. Born in 1848 in Chelsea, Massachusetts, to parents who were both escaped slaves, Latimer played a pivotal role in many of the key inventions of his lifetime, profoundly affecting the daily lives of all people. At age 16, Latimer lied about his age in order to enroll in the Navy so he could fight in the Civil War. After the war, he got a job at a patent firm and taught himself drafting. He was later recruited by Alexander Graham Bell to write the patent on the invention of the telephone. Latimer then went on to work with Hiram Maxim, the chief competitor to Thomas Edison in the field of electric lighting. Edison later recruited Latimer to work as chief draftsman and patent specialist at his company, Edison Electric Light Co. In addition to assisting with inventions and patents for these other famous inventors, Latimer invented many mechanical devices and systems on his own, and also secured several patents for his inventions. Latimer famously said, “We create our future by well improving present opportunities, however few and small they be.”

This composition amalgamates several of the key concepts that inform Sherman Beck’s practice, such as the passage of time; geometry; humanity’s relationship with nature and the ecosystem; the divinity of nature; and relationships between faces and masks. At the top of the image is a rising sun. At the bottom of the image the sun is setting into the sea. On the left side, the lighting in the clouds suggests the dawn, while on the right side, the lightning suggests the dusk. The sun at the top of the image radiates out in concentric circles. Through the center of it runs the seven rainbow-colored orbs of the chakra chart. The two faces in the middle of the image are facing opposite directions, looking forward and back, while the face in the center of the image is all but masked by the purple haze. At the bottom of the image, green, plant-like shoots extend upwards, enveloping a darkened orb reminiscent of Earth, while the jagged, wavy lines in the water resemble Beck’s frequent use of linear patterns to represent the path of life’s journey.