McArthur Binion
b. 1946
untitled
1980
five color lithograph
16 x 24 inches (image)
22-1/2 x 30 inches (sheet)
33/50

Binion was born in Macon, Mississippi, and studied at Wayne State University and Cranbrook in Detroit (he was the first African American to achieve a M.F.A. from Cranbrook).

Active since the 1970s, Binion’s work is minimalist abstract paintings, created using oil stick, crayons, and ink, the foundation of which is usually a rigid surface, such as wood or aluminum. He identifies as a “Rural modernist” and has said that his work “begins at a crossroads—at the intersection of Bebop improvisation and Abstract Expressionism”.

Binion pulls stylistic tropes common to folk artists as well, borrowing quilting patterns, layering photographic imagery and motifs and grids. He does all this while using one implement: his characteristic "crayon," or paint stick, which allowed him to move past oil paint. "In 1972 when I started to use them, they were basically industrial marking sticks," he recalls. Binion effectively converts an elementary tool into a refined hand-held instrument. He thrives in the effort of that conversion, having developed an ornate and labored approach that demands strenuous hours, and—as Binion has noted—resonates with the cotton-picking of his childhood. He had to train himself to be ambidextrous to negotiate hand fatigue, and works an entire surface of a painting in one sitting, before returning to rework that surface the next day or week or month. Some works take years to complete. Depending on how long he lets the paint dry, it becomes more or less malleable, responding to his hand like pigmented, sculptural putty.