ABOUT THE EXHIBIT: Curlee Raven Holton is a printmaker, painter, educator and lecturer who has exhibited his work professionally for over twenty-five years. His work has been presented at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum, and Egypt’s 7th International Biennale, as well as in more than thirty ‘one person’ and eighty group shows. Articles and reviews about his work have appeared in over forty different publications. As part of his research and study as an artist-scholar, Holton has lectured and presented demonstrations throughout the United States and abroad.

From 1991 to the present he as taught Printmaking and African-American Art History at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Robert S. Mattison PH.D., Professor of Art History at Lafayette College says:

“Curlee Holton’s graphic art is an intensive, thoughtful investigation of the artist’s individual and cultural identity. Holton’s prints also provide probing question about our feelings for the surrounding world. Thus, they stand in the best tradition of printmaking as a medium which asks profound personal and social questions”.

ABOUT THE ARTWORK:
The “Jazz” and the “Blues” images have been called visual rhythms. The artist’s depictions of individual or groups of musicians are alive with movement, bold in execution, and evocative of emotional response. Holton’s creative force and sensitivity are a part of each drawing, etching, mixed medium print and painting he produces.

In a recent essay Lewis Tanner Moore states:

 “the two bodies of work that relate to the Blues and Jazz speak to the power of those musical forms and the centrality of the Black cultural expression in America”. Of the Blues work he says “their structure, rhythm, content and design match and reaffirm what the Blues are all about”. Further, and in contrast, the Jazz Suite “feels more improvised, syncopated and stylistically complex”.

In entirety, the artwork of Curlee Raven Holton currently on view is a visual experience to be enjoyed by all. For those unable to attend the exhibit, the artwork is also available to seen by appointment at the Princeton Gallery.