Reginald Gammon (American artist)

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This article is about the American artist (1921-2005). For the British artist (1894-1997), see Reg Gammon.
Reginald Adolphus Gammon
Born(1921-03-31)March 31, 1921
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
DiedNovember 4, 2005(2005-11-04) (aged 84)
Albuquerque, New Mexico
NationalityAmerican
Known forPainter, educator
Websitereggiegammon.com

Reginald Gammon (1921-2005) was an American artist and member of the African American artist's collective, Spiral.

Biography[edit]

Gammon was born on March 31, 1921, in Philadelphia. He attended the Philadelphia Museum School of Industrial Art.[1] Gammon served in the United States Navy during World War II stationed in Guam from 1944 through 1946.[2]

After the war Gammon located to New York City.[3] In 1963 joined Spiral, a collective of Black artists interested in incorporating the concerns of the civil rights movement into their art.[4] The group met at the artist Romare Bearden's studio and the name Spiral was suggested by Hale Woodruff. Gammon's black and white painting "Freedom Now",[5] based on a Moneta Sleet Jr. photograph of the 1963 March on Washington, was exhibited at the 1965 Spiral exhibition "First Group Showing: Works in Black and White".[6]

After Spiral dissolved in 1966[3] Gammon joined the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) a group of artists that picketed the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Whitney Museum to protest the exclusion of black artists.[2]

In 1970 Gammon left (BECC) and New York City to take a teaching job at Western Michigan University where he stayed until he retired in 1991 as professor emeritus [3][7] Gammon then moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico where he became a member of the "New Mexico Afro-American Artist Guild" and the New Grounds Print Workshop.[7]

In 1975 Gammon was the recipient of a MacDowell fellowship.[8]

Gammon died on November 4, 2005, in Albuquerque.[2]

Gammon' work was included in the 2015 exhibition We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s at the Woodmere Art Museum.[9] His work is in the collection of the National Gallery of Art,[10] the Columbus Museum of Art,[11] the Woodmere Art Museum,[4] and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.[12] His papers are in the Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution.[2]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Reginald A. Gammon: Intellectual Artist of the Civil Rights Struggles of the 1960s". Black Then. 9 January 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b c d "Biographical Note | A Finding Aid to the Reginald Gammon papers, 1927-2007, bulk 1960-2005 bulk 1960-2005". Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  3. ^ a b c Robinson, Shantay. "Reginald Gammon: An Artist for the People". Black Art in America. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Gammon, Reginald". Woodmere Art Museum. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ^ "Reginald Gammon, Freedom Now, acrylic on board, 1963". Marching, in PROTEST, The Making of African American Identity: Vol. III, 1917-1968, Primary Resources in U.S. History and Literature, Toolbox Library. National Humanities Center. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  6. ^ Patton, Sharon F. (1998). African-American art. Oxford. pp. 185–187. ISBN 0192842137.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  7. ^ a b "Reginald Gammon". Petrucci Family Foundation Collection of African American Art. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Reginald Gammon - Artist". MacDowell. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  9. ^ "We Speak: Black Artists in Philadelphia, 1920s-1970s". Woodmere Art Museum. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  10. ^ "Painting - Mothers [Scottsboro Mothers]". Columbus Museum. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  11. ^ "Reginald Gammon, "Lynch Mob" (1937)". Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
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