Roland Ayers Art
American, 1932-2014
Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in art education, 1954. He traveled Europe, 1966–67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968–1975). Shortly before his second major trip abroad in 1971–72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively. Despite Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His autobiographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery. During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings, they suggest the female role models his journal record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic. A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971, when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe. Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A question often asked was “Is your work too black or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist but considered his work devoid of political content. Organizations such as Chicago’s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman. A martial agenda of this nature trivialized the work in Ayers’ view. A devotee of Eastern religions, Ayers sought to explore deeper subjects of a less topical nature, thereby stepping outside political discourse. This is not to suggest that he was a man who rejected the physical world. He was profoundly interested in awareness of the environment and how it relates to self-awareness. He often spoke of universality and timelessness as qualities to strive for in his art. Roland Ayers, In His Own Words, ”A person who refuses or is unable to give in to the consensus of his or her society may retain the capacity to see the world in a vastly different way. That person, in addition to having his or her construct of the world — and we all have that — usually has also retained the capacity to be more aware of that unique way of seeing as well as to use it."
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Artist: Roland Ayers
Untitled
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2017). Untitled, 1983. Ink on paper, measures 17 x 23 inches. Unframed and unmounted. Signed and dated lower left. Ayers holds the distinction of having participated in the first important survey of African-Americans, Contemporary Black Artists in America, a 1971 show at The Whitney.
Biography:
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
Category
1980s Abstract Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
$960 Sale Price
20% Off
Jazz Musicians (1950's Black Philadelphia artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
The Split Second After, ca. 1959
Lithograph on paper, image measuring 14 × 18 inches. Sheet measuring 18 × 23 inches.
Unframed. Minor staining of sheet...
Category
Mid-20th Century Abstract Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Improvisation abstract African-American artist painting.
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2017). Improvisation, 2nd Series, #5. Ink on paper, measures 19 x 24 inches. Unframed and unmounted. Signed and dated lower right, titled lower left. There are a few minor areas of loss in margins as depicted in close-up photos. Additionally, there a a few minor tears in margins. Ayers holds the distinction of having participated in the first important survey of African-Americans, Contemporary Black Artists in America, a 1971 show at The Whitney.
Biography:
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
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1980s Abstract Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
$1,080 Sale Price
40% Off
Parade (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Parade, 1960
Drypoint Etching, 5.5 × 17.75 inches.
Signed, titled and dated by the artist in pencil, lower margin.
Small tear, left margin which exte...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Hesitation Blues (Black Surrealist Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014). Hesitation Blues, 1968. Ink on paper, sheet measures 13 x 23 inches; 14 x 18 inches in archival pH-neutral matting. Signed and dated lower right. Excellent condition with no damage or restoration.
Provenance: Sheila Ayers-Whitelaw
Exhibition History: Roland Ayers: Calligraphy of Dreams, Woodmere Art Museum, 07/10/2021 - 10/24/2021
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
$3,000 Sale Price
62% Off
Animal Capers (Black Surrealist Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Animal Capers, ca. 1970 .
Ink on illustration board, image measures 20 inches. inches; illustration panel measures 21.5 inches. Unsigned.
Minor staining evident in detail photos
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
Astrological (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Astrological, 1970
Ink on paper, 20.5 inches diameter. Measuring 26 × 26 inches in acid free matting with circular cut window.
Signed and dated.
Exhib...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Landscape
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Landscape, 1968.
Ink on illustration board, 19 × 23 inches.
Signed and dated
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only ...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Untitled, (Aerial Circus Series)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Untitled, (Aerial Circus Series), 1968.
Ink on Strathmore illustration board, 27 × 30 inches.
Signed and dated.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers ...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Untitled Landscape 2
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Untitled (Landscape 2), 1968
Ink on paper.
30 × 28 inches.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Earth River Flowing (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Earth River Flowing, 1979-86.
Ink on paper, 22 ¾ x 15 7/8 inches; measuring 22 × 28 inches in matting.
Signed and dated.
Exhibition History: Roland Ay...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Amsterdam (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Amsterdam, 1967.
Ink on paper, 9.5 × 12.5 inches; 16 × 19 inches framed.
Signed and dated,...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Ink, Paper
Peaceful Island (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Peaceful Island, 1968.
17 inches diameter on a panel measuring 19 × 23 inches.
Signed and dated.
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on Jul...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
The Grasses (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
The Grasses: Vision of the Voodoo Child, ca. 1970
Ink on paper, 17 × 22. Measuring 22 × 28 inches in matting.
Artist initials lower left. Original artis...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Transformation (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Transformation, 1977.
Ink on paper, 23 × 29 inches. Measuring 24 × 32 inches in custom matting.
Signed and dated.
Exhibited: Woodmere Art Museum, 1967...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Time Shelters Memories: Doors (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
Time Shelters Memories: Doors, 1975
Ink on paper, 23 × 29 inches. Measuring 29 × 35 inches in acid free matting.
Signed and dated.
Exhibited: Woodmere ...
Category
1970s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Empirial Message (Surrealist Black Philadelphia Artist)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014).
The Emperial Message, 1959.
Drypoint Etching on paper, 15 × 17 ¾ inches. Larger in acid free archival matting. No Frame.
A/P (no edition, unique examp...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Never fight " Over a Man " Ladies
By Roland Ayers
Located in San Francisco, CA
C. 20th Century
Lovely Piece of art by Roland Ayers " Women fighting over a man " Done in Watercolor
B. 1932 - D. 2014
Category
20th Century Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Watercolor
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Traveling Young Art Exhibition organized by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
as well as in art galleries in Mexico and the United States.
His father was the famous professor and architect Abraham Zabludovsky known for his brutalist architecture masterpieces among them the iconic Museo Rufino Tamayo.
His work is featured in two buildings designed by his father, Abraham Zabludovsky (1924-2003): the Byzantine mosaic mural 'The Applause' in the Guanajuato State Auditorium (1990) and the sculpture 'The Caravan' in the Poliforum, Auditorium and Convention Center in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas (1993).
Moises Zabludovsky has shown with Antonio Galvan Duque, Jose Sacal, Tomas Gomez Robledo, Renato Gonzalez, Fitzia, Luis Argudin, Luis Granda, Jose Antonio Gurtubay, Heriberto Mendez, Vlady, Omar Manueco, Jesus Urbieta, Miguel Angel Garrido, Carlos Nakatani, Miguel Castro Lenero, Jose Luis Serrano, Humberto Oramas, Gabriel Macotela, Nicolas Moreno, Luis Nishizawa, Gilberto Navarro, Fernando Castro Pacheco...
Category
1970s Abstract Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Ink, Watercolor, Mixed Media
Mexican Abstract Watercolor, Ink, Pastel Bullfight Painting Moises Zabludovsky
Located in Surfside, FL
Moises Zabludovsky (Mexican, 1959-)
Bull Fight
Mixed Media Work on paper, watercolor; ink and pastel on paper
1979
Hand signed and dated.
Dimensions: Frame: 28.5 X 36.5. Image: 22.5 X 30
Abstract Modernist Mexican bullfighting image.
Born in Mexico City. His first training in art was in 1969 when he started working with Silvia Gonzalez and later on in the Arcai Atelier in Paris. At 18, he held his first exhibition at the Museo de Arte Moderno of Mexico City and he went on to display his work at the International Biennale of the Bronx Museum in New York City.
He grew up around the Mer Kup Gallery, run by his maternal grandmother, Merl de Kuper, where he presented his work in several group exhibitions and three solo shows (1979, 1981, and 1985). She was a champion of many important mexican modernist artists including
artists like Pedro friedeberg, Feliciano Bejar, Mathias Goeritz, Diego Rivera, Sebastián, and José Luis Cuevas.Moises Zabludovsky exhibited at the National Center for the Arts in 2011 and at the Museo El Eco of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He has exhibited paintings and sculptures at the Museum of Modern Art, the Jose Luis Cuevas Museum, Metropolitana in Mexico City.
He has successful shows at prominent art galleries like the Miro Gallery in Monterrey, Palacio de Bellas Artes and Museo Carrillo Gil in Mexico City. He also had some international shows in Florida and Latin America. In 1982 he was awarded a degree in graphic design from Parsons University. He has received numerous awards and exhibited widely since the early 1990's. He is known both for his oil painting as well as for his ceramic and bronze bullfighting sculpture.
In 1978, he received an honorable mention at the First Ibero-American Painting Biennial, where Carlos Merida and Rufino Tamayo were on the jury.
He was part of the Emerging Decade generation whose members participated in the exhibitions bearing that name at the Museo Universitario del Chopo in 1984 and 1994, the latter titled An Emerging Decade, a Decade Later . He also participated in the Salón dès Aztecs, a renowned alternative space for Mexican art
In the show Nuevas tendencias (New Trends) at the Museum of Modern Art in Mexico City. That same year, he also exhibited at the International Biennial at the Bronx Museum in New York. He continued his studies at the Metropolitan University of Mexico City and simultaneously exhibited at various galleries and museums: the Mer-Kup Gallery and the Miró Gallery in Monterrey, Nuevo León; the Palacio de Bellas Artes; the Carrillo Gil Art Museum; and, outside the country, in Florida and at the
Traveling Young Art Exhibition organized by the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
as well as in art galleries in Mexico and the United States.
His father was the famous professor and architect Abraham Zabludovsky known for his brutalist architecture masterpieces among them the iconic Museo Rufino Tamayo.
His work is featured in two buildings designed by his father, Abraham Zabludovsky (1924-2003): the Byzantine mosaic mural 'The Applause' in the Guanajuato State Auditorium (1990) and the sculpture 'The Caravan' in the Poliforum, Auditorium and Convention Center in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas (1993).
Moises Zabludovsky has shown with Antonio Galvan Duque, Jose Sacal, Tomas Gomez Robledo, Renato Gonzalez, Fitzia, Luis Argudin, Luis Granda, Jose Antonio Gurtubay, Heriberto Mendez, Vlady, Omar Manueco, Jesus Urbieta, Miguel Angel Garrido, Carlos Nakatani, Miguel Castro Lenero, Jose Luis Serrano, Humberto Oramas, Gabriel Macotela, Nicolas Moreno, Luis Nishizawa, Gilberto Navarro, Fernando Castro Pacheco...
Category
1970s Abstract Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Pastel, Ink, Watercolor
Turquoise Leaf Cutout on Abstract Cloudy Background, Organic Modern Painting
By Kind of Cyan
Located in Barcelona, ES
This is a unique mixed media piece: it is a hand-painted botanical abstract colorful shape upon a background that is a cyanotype print of a cloudy texture, giving it a modern, abstract geometric feel that will look great in contemporary and classic homes and businesses.
Details:
+ Title: Turquoise Leaf...
Category
2010s Abstract Geometric Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Emulsion, Sumi Ink, Acrylic, Archival Paper, C Print, Color, Engraving, ...
$317 Sale Price
31% Off
H 40 in W 28 in
"Altered States of an Autorittrati", Modernist Self-Portrait Complete Series (6)
By I. Colon
Located in Soquel, CA
Bold series of modernist figurative abstract lithographs by California bay area artist I. Colon (20th Century). Each piece is individually numbered, titled, and signed along the bottom edge (see below for exact numbers and titles). Complete set of a six-part series depicting a transformation of self-portraits. Presented in new black mats with foam core backing. No frame. Each piece measures 18"H x 14"W (to the edge of the mat). Image size: 15"H x 11"W ea.
Numbers and titles:
2/5 "Altered State...
Category
Late 20th Century Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink, Lithograph
$1,200 Sale Price
20% Off
H 18 in W 14 in D 0.25 in
Previously Available Items
3rd Mandala
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2017). 3rd Mandala, 1982. Ink on paper, measures 17 x 23 inches. Unframed and unmounted. Signed and dated lower right. A note in corner may indicate the occasion for the creation of this piece, or it may me an incidental, unrelated note jotted in the margin. Ayers holds the distinction of having participated in the first important survey of African-Americans, Contemporary Black Artists in America, a 1971 show at The Whitney.
Biography:
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and...
Category
1980s Abstract Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Paper, Ink
Improvisation #8, Series 1
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2017). Improvisation #8, Series 1, 1980. Ink on paper, measures 18 x 24 inches. Unframed and unmounted. Signed and dated lower right, titled lower left. Ayers holds the distinction of having participated in the first important survey of African-Americans, Contemporary Black Artists in America, a 1971 show at The Whitney.
Biography:
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and...
Category
1980s Abstract Geometric Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Ink
The People (Urban African-American Afrofuturism Landscape)
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Roland Ayers (1932-2014), The People, 1975. Image measures 25 x 39 inches, 32 x 46 inches framed. Signed and dated lower left.
Search terms: Black artist; Philadelphia artist; Afrofuturism; Afrofuturist
Biography:
Artist and art educator, Roland Ayers was born on July 2, 1932, the only child of Alice and Lorenzo Ayers, and grew up in the Germantown district of Philadelphia. Ayers served in the US Army (stationed in Germany) before studying at the Philadelphia College of Art (currently University of the Arts). He graduated with a BFA in Art Education, 1954. He traveled Europe 1966-67, spending time in Amsterdam and Greece in particular. During this period, he drifted away from painting to focus on linear figurative drawings of a surreal nature. His return home inaugurated the artist’s most prolific and inspired period (1968-1975). Shorty before his second major trip abroad in 1971-72 to West Africa, Ayers began to focus on African themes, and African American figures populated his work almost exclusively.
In spite of Ayers’ travel and exploration of the world, he gravitated back to his beloved Germantown, a place he endowed with mythological qualities in his work and literature. His auto-biographical writing focuses on the importance of place during his childhood. Ayers’ journals meticulously document the ethnic and cultural make-up of Germantown, and tell a compelling story of class marginalization that brought together poor families despite racial differences. The distinctive look and design of Germantown inform Ayers’ visual vocabulary. It is a setting with distinctive Gothic Revival architecture and haunting natural beauty. These characteristics are translated and recur in the artist’s imagery.
During his childhood, one of the only books in the Ayers household was an illustrated Bible. The images within had a profound effect on the themes and subjects that would appear in his adult work. Figures in an Ayers’ drawing often seem trapped in a narrative of loss and redemption. Powerful women loom large in the drawings: they suggest the female role models his journals record in early life. The drawings can sometimes convey a strong sense of conflict, and at other times, harmony. Nature and architecture seem to have an antagonistic relationship that is, ironically, symbiotic.
A critical turning point in the artist’s career came in 1971 when he was included in the extremely controversial Whitney Museum show, Contemporary Black Artists in America. The exhibition gave Ayers an international audience and served as a calling card for introductions he would soon make in Europe.
Ayers is a particularly compelling figure in a period when black artists struggled with the idea of authenticity. A questioned often asked was “Is your work too black, or not black enough?” Abstractionists were considered by some peers to be sell-outs, frauds or worse. Figurative* work was accused of being either sentimental or politically radical depending on the critical source. Ayers made the choice early on to be a figurative artist, but considered his work devoid of political content.
Organizations such as Chicago’ s Afri-Cobra in the late 1960‘s asserted that the only true black art of any relevance must depict the black man and woman...
Category
1970s American Realist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Watercolor, Archival Paper
H 39 in W 25 in D 1.5 in
Untitled
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Surrealist proto-Afropunk drawing by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014). Untitled, 1969. Ink on Strathmore archival paper, sheet measures 17.5 x 23 inches; 28.5 x 35 i...
Category
1960s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Ink, Archival Paper
The Backyard
By Roland Ayers
Located in Wilton Manors, FL
Magical Realist painting by African-American artist, Roland Ayers (1932-2014). The Backyard, 1960. Oil on artist board, 16 x 20 inches; 21 x 25 inches in a carved and gilt wood frame...
Category
1950s Surrealist Roland Ayers Art
Materials
Board, Oil
Roland Ayers art for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Roland Ayers art available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Roland Ayers in ink, paper, archival paper and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the abstract style. Not every interior allows for large Roland Ayers art, so small editions measuring 10 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of Stephen Greene, Robert Ruello, and Hildegarde Haas. Roland Ayers art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $1,000 and tops out at $8,000, while the average work can sell for $1,500.