Robert Hodge (American/Texas, b. 1979), "All My Sons", 2014, mixed media on panel, signed and dated en verso, 39 in. x 27 in., framed . Provenance: Acquired from the artist; Collection of Noted Preservationist and Aesthete Dorian M. Bennett, New Orleans. Exh.: "Robert Hodge: Destroy and Rebuild. Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Oct. 2014 -Jan. 2015. Note: Robert Hodge studied visual art at the Pratt Institute, Atlanta College of Art and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture before returning to his hometown of Houston, Texas where he currently lives and works. He is an interdisciplinary artist working in multiple media who has become a fixture in the city's art scene and exhibited his work in numerous national and international institutions. Hodge developed a signature "cut-out" technique, in which he prepares foraged and found papers for his paintings through a labor-intensive process in which he glues or sews countless layers together. He may then bury the papers or leave them exposed to the elements to achieve a more weathered aesthetic that best expresses the tactility of urban environments. The fused papers take on a sculptural presence with richly textured surfaces that Hodge can then precisely carve, initially using an X-Acto knife and then a laser cutter. Each cut reveals the intricate layers beneath through an overlying powerful message of "windows" of text. "All My Sons" offered here was part of a series Hodge created for his first solo exhibition "Robert Hodge: Destroy and Rebuild" at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston in 2014. The series features paintings which superimpose hip-hop references over prints of historical paintings and drawings, primarily images including a master and slave. Self-described as one of the artist's favorites in the show, "All My Sons" pairs John Trumbull's portrait of George Washington of 1780 with text from Nas' "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)." The Trumbull portrait also depicts the president's slave and valet, Billy Lee. Hodge addressed this inclusion: "Billy Lee had a 30-year relationship with George Washington. They were really close. Movies never show you that side; it's always black and white. But these relationships were complicated." Because he also was thinking about the horrors of Hurricane Katrina when creating "All My Sons," Hodge replaced Washington's head with an image of George W. Bush. "My work primarily consists of drawing, printmaking and mixed media collage that evokes culturally relevant themes and is informed by histories of West Africa, and political events of historical and cultural significance. My intention is to tell stories about our diverse culture; knowing this is critical to understanding why I appropriate and collage POP images together to create a new dialogue out of the commercial language that surrounds us in everyday life." - Robert Hodge. Described in Artforum as "insistently uncompromising," Hodge's work utilizes irreverent irony to address concerns about race and equality while compelling his viewers to take a stand. Ref.: Bryan-Wilson, Julia. "Openings: Robert Hodge." Artforum. Mar. 2015. www.artforum.com. Accessed July 27, 2020. Glentzer, Mollly. "Robert Hodge's 'Destroy and Rebuild' confronts European art with hip-hop culture." Houston Chronicle. Oct. 10, 2014. www.houstonchronicle.com. Accessed July 27, 2020Exh.: "Robert Hodge: Destroy and Rebuild." Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Oct. 2014 - Jan. 2015. Title is "All My Sons."