Original mixed media on paper artwork by Roldan West, signed lower right and dated '92. Image 6.25" x 4.5"; overall with frame 10" x 8". Abstract portrait of a musician

Roldan West is a Black artist from Wilmington, DE. In his own words,

"The major influences in my art are the ground, dirt, Mother Earth, Picasso's use of color and composition, and Leonardo Davinci's use of pen and ink in painting and drawing. I have been making art since I can remember. I was born at a time where graffiti art was the cave painting of our time. Every generation has their time and culture, and ours is the combination and blending of many cultures melted together.

I attended La Esmeralda and the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico, where I studied mural art. This is also where I met Fanny Ravel, Arnold Belkin, Rufino Tamayo and Jose Luis Cuevas.

I have always been drawn to spray painting and graffiti art in public places. I was alone and needed to find a way to survive, so I decided to use the spray painting technique at the Teotihucan Estate in Mexico, where many tourists were coming to see the UFO under the pyramids. Later, I integrated planets and cosmos into many of my compositions.

I worked at the Rufino Tamayo Workshop, printing his intaglios and engravings in Cuernavaca. After that, I finished my bachelors degree and my mural studies, and worked as an assistant to Arnold Belkin and Fanny Ravel. I got a fellowship to study in Europe and with the recommendations of Tamayo and Belkin, and moved to France where I did my Masters in Fine Art at the Toulouse-Lautrec Academy in Paris.

I hope you can see something in my art to enhance your critical thinking regarding the social, humanistic and the natural view of the events during our existence. In other words, I paint my history."


Condition:
Alterations: Original Condition Unaltered
Imperfections: Some Imperfections
Condition Notes: No noted defects

Origin:
United States

Materials & Techniques:
Mixed-Media, Paper

Details:
What type of item is it? Vintage / Antique / Used
Frame Type: Framed
Art Subjects: Abstract, Music
Country of Origin: United States

Original Condition Unaltered; Some Imperfections; No noted defects