Dean Mitchell
Buffalo Soldier
30 x 20 in.
Acrylic on panel
Available at RJD Gallery “A Time and A Place: Layers of Black History” exhibition
Dean Mitchell is an artist of extraordinary range and talent. His canvases deftly depict soulful figures as easily as they do urban or rural scenes. Dean Mitchell’s world is our world: the people and landscapes seem so familiar — we feel like we know that person or passed by that barn or building on the road to somewhere.
Mitchell grew up in Quincy, Florida raised and inspired by his grandmother to follow his dream of being a fine artist — a path not often taken by African Americans in the 60s and 70s during the volatile Civil Rights period. He persisted despite obstacles of poverty, racism and lack of opportunities in the south and used those limitations as stepping stones in his art to transcend any labels society chose to bestow upon him.
“Buffalo Soldier” speaks to a time and a place in not only Black history but American history as well. Named Buffalo soldiers by American Indians on the western frontier, these men served with distinction beginning in 1866 as the 9th and 10th cavalry as well as the 24th and 25th infantries. Many of these men were among the 180,000 African Americans who were Union soldiers during the Civil War. Not only did they fight in the Indian wars, the Buffalo soldiers also fought in the Spanish-American War, the Philippine-American War, Mexican Border War and World Wars I and II.
Mitchell’s portrait of Buffalo and Union soldiers will be presented in RJD Gallery’s Black History Month exhibition, “A Time and A Place: Layers of Black History.” This show will also showcase Mitchell’s stunning rural landscapes — desolate and filled with a quiet intensity. “A Time and A Place” will also feature the works of Stefanie Jackson, Phillip Thomas and Jules Arthur.
“Black history is American history and it should be honored and shared through art, literature and music. Let us all remember and celebrate those that have paved the way for all of us” says RJD Gallery’s Joi Jackson Perle.
“A Time and A Place: Layers of Black History” opens on Saturday, February 22 and runs through March 16.
RJD Gallery
2385 Main Street
Bridgehampton, NY 11932
+1 631 725 1161
[email protected]
RJDGallery.com
