September 14, 2012
The Coleman Center for the Arts (CCA) is pleased to present new works by Birmingham artist Darius Hill. His work will be on display from September 14 to November 16, 2012. An opening reception and party will take place on Thursday, September 20th from 6 to 8 pm. The event is free and open to the public and food will be served! Come and join the fun!
In his new work Hill combines diverse media and texts to examine the idea of a “post racial” America. The artist draws inspiration from a myriad of sources including his own African American identity, art history, Americana and pop culture. The work was inspired by a wide range of art historical references including Jasper Johns, Robert Indiana, Kenneth Nolland, Cubism and the Harlem Renaissance. Hill says his “objective is to use memory as a spark toward an investigation which could lead [us] to reconsider issues in new ways.”
Hill pulls from a similarly wide gamut of strikingly juxtaposed Americana. The Captain America logo meets up with his oft repeated Afro pick; a fictitious record label merges “Menace II Society” with a segregationist album from the 1960’s; and a Public Enemy logo is flanked by tribal carvings. Circles are repeatedly employed throughout the work in concentric rings of Afro picks, targets, albums and poker chips. Hill’s range of sources lead us to question both our heritage and destiny as Americans. In the artist’s words, “Making art allows you to drift into the depths of your subconscious, retrieving parts of the puzzle that you could not have grasped in the conscious world.”
Hill will be working with the CCA on a variety of projects over the next year. This program is made possible by support from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, the Alabama State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information please contact the Coleman Center for the Arts at 205-392-2005.
About the Artist
Darius Hill is Chair of the Visual Arts Department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. He holds a BFA in printmaking from the Atlanta College of Art. He is an exhibiting artist, participating in shows throughout the southeast including New Vision Gallery, Atlanta, GA; the University of Montevallo, Montevallo, AL; and the Crossroads Initiative, New Orleans, LA. Hill’s work is represented in many collections including museum, corporate, and private, throughout the U.S. He has earned several honors and awards including Operation New Birmingham Best in Show Award at the Magic City Art Connection and an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Alabama State Council on the Arts. He was one of 13 Alabama printmakers selected to work with the University of Montevallo’s Big Print project. Work generated from the project traveled to major museums throughout the state of Alabama. Hill’s work has been selected by many juried exhibitions such as the Red Clay Survey, Huntsville and the Energen Exhibition, Birmingham. His work has been reviewed in publications such as Art Papers, Birmingham Magazine, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Birmingham News.