I Remember Romy

The sun will never set on the African-American experience. Romare Bearden made sure of that.

 In 1960 I was an art student at the Cooper Union School of Art, where Robert Blackburn managed the printmaking studio. Since I was the only black student, Bob reached out to me and said, “You must meet Romare Bearden,” and immediately took me to him. Romy sent me on to Norman Lewis and to Jacob Lawrence.

 African Americans have played a significant role in the formation of American art. In the black art community, artists influence one another through plastic innovation, mentorship, cultural identity guidance and encouraging perseverance. All are deeply ingrained. My visits to Romy's studio as a young artist had a profound effect on the development of my conceptual ideas in painting.

 Romy's legacy in painting is collage as narrative. His earlier experiments in abstraction expanded his understanding of materiality. Paint-as-collage is the plastic foundation of my paintings. No one springs from the head of Zeus! My sources are clear to me. Romy continues to be a major influence on my thinking in painting.