Matter Studio Gallery, 5080 W. Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, is excited to announce an Opening Reception for artist Donna Angers’ THESE WOMEN MATTER solo exhibition June 19, 2022 from 4pm -7pm. This exhibition will be in the Gallery through July 3, 2022.
“These Women Matter” is the solo exhibition of Donna Angers who graduated from Otis College of Art and Design as a 69-year-old African American. Ms. Angers is fascinated by the people she encounters in everyday life. Her paintings are “big”, as if she is conducting a symphony of color with her arms. Her subjects are bold, strong representations who stare directly at the viewers, resulting in mysterious, moving portraits in bold colors. Her subjects tell their story within your mind.
In her own words, her goal is to “perfect my gift from God. I desire to be as accurate in my storytelling as Rockwell; to learn the mystery of contrast as Caravaggio; to draw one line as poetically as Wyeth; and to interpret images as superbly as Sergeant.” She rediscovered her passion for art late in life and states she will “devote the rest of her life to celebrating her gift”.
The year was 1956 in New Brunswick, N.J. and I was seventeen years old. Sitting in Mrs. Erickson’s art class in the 11th grade, I was about to paint a beautiful white girl for my portfolio. Though being an African American, I had never had a black doll, had never drawn a black woman. My idea of beauty was Doris Day or Sandra Dee, with their blonde hair and blue eyes. Suddenly my gaze rose as I put my pencil to paper. For the first time I was really seeing Lucy Blount. My pencil began to trace her face on the cover of my portfolio. Her skin was the color of shiny, wet black mud. It was a purple blackness that I had never noticed before. I still remember she wore her hair in an upsweep, with round curls on the top. Lucy, I realized, was beautiful and she didn’t look white. The ideas I had of beauty were associated with the images that Greek culture had established centuries ago and were still being praised.
As I begin this journey of exploring the history of the image of the African American woman, I must of course return to Africa. Every story begins in Africa. My art honors all the brave black woman that endured the slave ships, picked the cotton, cleaned the white man’s house, and nursed his babies, to become much more than our ancestors ever envisioned.
All of African art is religious and spiritual. I paint the spirit that I see in Black people, wherever I see it. My work is politically based and emerges from a place of inspiration and social concerns.
I celebrate my heritage with great pride!
Donna Angers
Attached please find photos of the artist and her work for publication:
For more information please see MatterStudioGallery.com and contact Karla Funderburk at 323.697.4988 or karla@matterstudigallery.com.
