TheArthur Wright is a pointillist bleach artist who expresses the culture of blackness in his paintings. Wright believes that expression of truths or beliefs about existence is a fundamental component to delivering artists’ works, specifically using snippets of life lessons we’ve learned to deliver the message.
Through these paintings, Wright uses the simplicity of minimal tools to express what cannot be said. He emphasizes the experience of and feelings created by his paintings, creating a connection most importantly with things that are often inexpressible but that can connect to the heart, soul, or spirit of others with the truth as it is known to the artist.
TheArthur Wright was born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940. Some of Wright’s time was spent in the Air Force after graduating from high school in Seattle, Washington. Through the Air Force, he spent years in Japan, then attended Central Washington State College in Ellensburg, Washington, and then settled in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1964. There, he published his writings and sold art in the early seventies.
TheArthur became a board member of the Artship, which was also a seaborne arts venue in Oakland until 2004. Wright’s Califia, Queen of California was used for a poster for the 2003 Carnaval in San Francisco. Throughout his career, his works have made appearances at colleges throughout California, including UCLA, Stanford, Santa Rosa JC, and Sonoma State. Presently, Wright is part of the board of directors for the Prescott-Joseph Center, a nonprofit organization in Oakland, California.
One of Wright’s first major artistic launches was his Califia, Queen of California poster, where he painted this image with careful gold accents in great quantities. This painting, along with many of Wright’s other artistic works, has been featured at the African American Historical and Cultural Society in San Francisco, where multiple artists were featured in a Queen Califia exhibit, showcasing their interpretations of Califia in various paintings.
Califia, Queen of California
The painting titled Can You Hear the Drums Beat? is inspired by drums beaten by Zulu drummers. Found under Wright’s “Africana” paintings, this giclee painting is currently being sold for $400 on paper or $5,000 on canvas at 20 x 34 inches.
Can You Hear the Drums Beat?
Haunts:
- Another haunt where Wright is presently on the board of directors is the Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement (920 Peralta Street, Oakland, CA 94607). Located in West Oakland, this center is for community services, culture, and education to serve the local community. To help maintain the community of West Oakland, this center offers computer literacy classes, a place to celebrate the arts, and tutoring for schools.
- Another haunt where Wright is presently on the board of directors is the Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement (920 Peralta Street, Oakland, CA 94607). Located in West Oakland, this center is for community services, culture, and education to serve the local community. To help maintain the community of West Oakland, this center offers computer literacy classes, a place to celebrate the arts, and tutoring for schools.
- Another haunt where Wright was featured was the African American Historical and Cultural Society in San Francisco (762 Fulton Street, 2nd Floor, San Francisco, CA 94115), where one of his most popular paintings (Califia) was featured in a Califia exhibit along with various other artists. It is here that he was able to showcase his popular work.
~ by Patricia Dalao ~
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