David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History is on view through January 9, 2022.

David Driskell often stated that “art is a priestly calling,” and his artistry has deep roots in his Christian spiritual practice. Son of a Baptist minister, Driskell was informed by his father’s sermons as well as his own experiences in the Congregational church for more than 40 years. Biblical themes have been a consistent source of inspiration from the 1950s forward. Inspired by his father’s sketches of angels, they become a frequent theme in works such as Gabriel (1965) and Let the Church Roll On (1995–96). Driskell’s abiding interest in Byzantine art is reflected in the flatness and frontal posture of figures that recall sacred Christian icons.

David Driskell, Let the Church Roll On, 1995–96, Encaustic, gouache, and crayon on paper, 24 1⁄16 × 19 1⁄16 in., Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick, Maine, Museum Purchase, Lloyd O. and Marjorie Strong Coulter Fund, 1998.23 © Estate of David C. Driskell

In 1994, Driskell began a series of works that featured a small chapel with a protective, hovering angel. Titled after the popular spiritual “Let the Church Roll On,” this work conjures memories of the church from Driskell’s past, from his father’s interest in drawing angels, to Hunt’s Chapel where Driskell was baptized, and more broadly to the deep-rooted and enduring ministry of the Black church. Driskell surrounds the wood-framed chapel with verdant greenery, suggesting perhaps that nature, like the church, will continue to roll on.

David Driskell, Black Crucifixion, 1964, Oil on cotton canvas, 57 × 30 1⁄4 in., Collection of Larry D. and Brenda T. Thompson, Atlanta © Estate of David C. Driskell. Photograph by Gregory R. Staley

Completed the year the Civil Rights Act was signed into law, Black Crucifixion signifies the persecution and suffering of Black people in America. Its critique is social. The figure looks out directly, if probingly, as an eternal witness to prevailing systems of racial violence, segregation, and discrimination. Driskell’s depiction of the body seems forensic, like an X-ray, and recalls his 1956 homage to Emmett Till, Behold Thy Son (1956). The application of planes of color, like stained glass, draws upon Driskell’s study of Analytical Cubism and his admiration for the art of Georges Rouault.

Join us on December 14 for a conversation with collectors Larry and Brenda Thompson, who were close friends with David Driskell and collected his work.

David Driskell: Icons of Nature and History is on view through January 9, 2022.

David Driskell was introduced to African art by pioneering artist and art historian James A. Porter at Howard University. Sojourns to Africa in 1969–70 and 1972 deepened his understanding and connection to West African art. In 1973 he addressed this influence directly: “I have turned my attention to images that reflect the exciting expression that is based in the iconography of African art. In so doing, I am not attempting to create African art, instead, I am interested in keeping alive some of the potent symbols that have significant meaning for me as a person of African descent.”

Driskell became a scholar of African art during his tenure at Fisk University in Nashville, where he oversaw an extensive African art collection. Integral to his life, African art graced the artist’s home and his studios. The role of African art in Driskell’s work is rarely one of direct quotation but rather a source of cultural memory and ancestral legacy.

David Driskell, Memories of a Distant Past, 1975, Egg tempera, gouache, and collage on paper, 21 1/2 x 16 in., Private collection © Estate of David C. Driskell

Memories of a Distant Past exemplifies the collage painting method Driskell favored in the late 1960s and 70s, achieving a harmonious orchestration of content and form, paint and collage. Pictorial collage fragments, deployed for pattern and shape, came from commercial print materials (Look magazine was a favorite), fabric, painted paper, and his own uneditioned prints. This painting repurposes material published in the January 7, 1969, edition of Look—a special issue: The Blacks and the Whites. Driskell used pictorial imagery from the essay titled “Black America’s African Heritage.”

David Driskell, Shango, 1972, Egg tempera and gouache on paper, 24 × 18 in., Collection of the Estate of David C. Driskell, Maryland © Estate of David C. Driskell. Photograph by Stephen Bates

Shango reimagines a Yoruba ritual object, specifically a carved dance wand (oshe shango), as a medieval or Byzantine icon. One of the principal Yoruba deities, Shango, who was known for a fiery temper, controlled thunder and lightning. The double-edged ax that appears above the figure’s head (and on carved dance wands) represents Shango’s lightning. Driskell was intimately familiar with Yoruba iconography from historical studies during his residency at the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 1970.