4.04.2013

LEGENDARY DETROIT ARTIST CHARLES MCGEE!


Detroit Artist Emeritus Charles McGee

Charles McGee was just 10 years old when he moved north to Detroit from South Carolina. At the time, he didn't wear shoes, had never seen an electric light and couldn't read. Starting school behind his peers compelled him to take hold of any opportunity he had to learn.



"The hunger and the thirst that I felt for school perpetuated the dogma in me to excel in whatever I was doing, regardless of what it was," McGee explained. Read Full Story on Huffington Post



The talent that comes out of Detroit never ceases to amaze me.  Today I was speaking with my friend John Carver and he mentioned Artist Charles McGee.  I believe I met Mr. McGee at an art exhibit that another fabulous artist Jon Lockard produced. Jon is the artist in residence at Washtenaw Community College.  McGee was there with a few of his paintings. His work struck such a chord with me back then.

Fast forward a few decades and I find out that at age 89 Charles McGee is still going strong in Detroit! I am pleased and honored to be able to share his fascinating work with my readers!


“Art charts the course of time on its journey through the straits of universal order. It processes and applies signature to the uniqueness of human thoughts and perceptions. I believe that all earthly elements, animate and inanimate, exist and operate in the service of nature equally . . . and in the end, converts simply into dust in the downwind of time.” Charles McGee


Freedom Bound

Charles McGee, award winning artist from Detroit, MI
Details - Year created: 2012
Size: 108" wide, 28" deep and 60" high
Art form: 3-D
Medium: Powder coated aluminum/Water jet fabricated

“Freedom Bound: a journey, life's unique pathway, lineage, language. Lines liberated to move mass through space and time in route to build beautiful tomorrows. Purged of Chroma, improvisational achromatic black and white patterns play across the surface plane like cymbals articulating jazz rhythm sounds. The motivating logic ever present in nature's system of opposites which governs universal order is the source of energy that shapes the content of my imagery.”

Charles McGee’s art, time has revealed both of the above. His work always has been like music – most specifically the rhythmic and improvisational beat of jazz, and it has given him masterful insight into a broad range of art, which is evident in this expansive and balanced exhibition that he curated. In his own art, McGee gives us constant visual music.

"The Spirit of Ann Arbor" 


Several approaches, including combinations of painting and collage; complex metal sculptures that utilize computer and high-tech cutting and painting technologies; and dynamic linear sculpture swing us and bounce us with what he calls energy.. McGee’s energy is the essence of life in art, and it also defines his own artful life that has moved him through a long and important career.


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