Artists' Fellowship - 2000
Painting
Artist Statement:
"My love for and enjoyment of making art goes back very early in childhood. Growing up in the South, my talent was encouraged by a grandmother, father and an artistic uncle. Basically, my work has been consistent over the years with regard to interests in diverse media, exploration of figurative and abstract elements and experimentation with color moving through space.... I am attempting to visit parts of the Diaspora in order to depict my culture. Thus far, these trips have included the West Indies, West Africa and the Sea Island." Jemisin employs wax resist with vibrant color and a gestural swing to capture motion and mood in his subjects.
More about the Artist:
I was fortunate to be one of those artists who knew since childhood that I wanted to be an artist. With the encouragement of family members and art mentors in elementary and high school, I cultivated my talent through hard work over the years, earning a B.S. in Fine Arts form Alabama State University, and an MA and MFA from the University of Iowa.
Beginning in the early 1970s, I started a body of works employing a personally invented encaustic technique to explore form in a very hard-edge formal sense. Later, I married my new technique with a childlike drawing approach that I developed from years of studying children's work. This became my signature style.
I moved to new York in 1974 and began my professional career. I had my first solo exhibition in 1975 at Just Above Midtown Gallery. In 1978, one of my paintings was acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
My work entails energy, movement and life. I have painted familiar environments - series on the New York City taxis and people, trips to Europe, West AFrica, Italy, North Africa, African-American etc. I've been consistent over the years wiht regard to an interest in diverse media, exploration of figurative and abstract elements and experiements with color moving through space.
In the year 2000, I won my second NYFA award in painting (the first was in 1993). I received Pollock-Krassner awards for painting in 1994 and 1997. I received a grant for a Percent for Art projet sponsored by the NYC Department for Cultural Affairs, 1996-98. These are among several other grants.
I have been an Adjunct Professor of advanced painting and drawing at SUNY-Purchase since 1999, and I am presently artist-in-Residence at El Puente Academy in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Participated in the exhibition Buying Time: Nourishing Excellence at Sotheby's, New York, from June-July 2001.
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