Fresh Art Friday: Sedrick Huckaby

On September 17th we attended the Amon Carter Museum's Party On the Porch. While the music was fun and the company great, I was stopped dead in my tracks in front of this stunner: 

My photo can't do it justice. So how about we try a video of the install: 

Sedrick Huckaby was born in Fort Worth Texas in 1975. He graduated from O.D. Wyatt High School, studied art at Texas Wesleyan, obtained his Bachelor's of Fine Art from Boston University and earned a Master of Fine Arts from Yale. 

Huckaby paints the people, objects and themes he knows. And he does it with a brilliance that I just can't shake it. 

A Love Supreme, 2014 

One of the objects Huckaby paints frequently are his family quilts. In interviews he has noted that he grew up with his family quilts and turned his attention to them more broadly after taking a class on African textiles. His large scale canvases of these family heirlooms elevate what may have been viewed as crafts to fine art. I'm drawn to their colors, textures and rich histories. 

For the project titled The 99%, which was installed at the Amon Carter, Huckaby approached portraiture and the community his work represents from the analogy of those same quilts. 

Not to be outdone by his black and white portraiture, his color images are something of a revelation. 

The Family: Rising Sun, 2016 

The artist examining his installation at Valley House Gallery in Dallas

Alice, Prophetist Jones, 2014

Huckaby's large scale, full color works remind me of the stylistic prowess of Lucian Freud with the darkness of Francis Bacon. You could also just call it love.  

Huckaby is definitely one home-town artist to keep an eye on.

Fresh Art Friday posts are intended for the sole purpose of promoting excellence in the arts community and inspiring readers to find a love of art. Almond Milk & Honey is honored to share interesting, innovative and high quality art with readers. The author in no way intends to deprive the originating artist of his or her copyright status and readers are encouraged to respect the copyright status of all works posted.