Excerpt from Frank Wimberley: Poem from the First Rain
By Lisa N. Peters Ph.D.
Over the course of a career that has lasted more than sixty years, Frank Wimberley feels that abstract painting to be a continuous adventure. Born in 1926, the artist is a well-known presence an important figure in African American art since the 1960s. Acclaimed for his dynamic, multi-layered, and sophisticated paintings, Wimberley is among the leading contemporary artists to continue in the Abstract Expressionist tradition. What has always excited him is to take the theme or feeling from the very first stroke he lays down and follow it to its particular conclusion, “very much like creating the controlled accident.” His improvisational method is akin to jazz, an important part of his life and a theme in his art. Despite the spontaneity of his process, Wimberley makes each decision deliberately, respectful of what emerges and where it is going; he enjoys the surprise of arriving at definitions that seem to come to life on their own. Similarly, his works engage the viewer in their strong physicality and unpredictability as well as in their insights into the ways that pictorial experiences are perceived and understood.
Biography by Lisa N. Peters, PhD
Designed by Mark Robinson
Published by Berry Campbell and printed by GHP Media
