Frank Wimberley

Frank Wimberley (born August 31, 1926) is an African American abstract expressionist artist.[1]

Frank Wimberley
Born (1926-08-31) August 31, 1926
Pleasantville, New Jersey
NationalityAmerican
Known forAbstract art
MovementModernism
SpouseJuanita Wimberley

Biography

Frank Wimberley grew up in suburban New Jersey. After serving in the Army, he studied painting at Howard University with James Amos Porter, James Lesesne Wells, and Loïs Mailou Jones. There he developed an interest in jazz, which lead to friendships with Miles Davis, Ron Carter, and Wayne Shorter.[2]

Wimberley is a longtime resident of Sag Harbor, NY.[3][4] He and his wife Juanita moved there in the 1960s into a modernist house that they designed.[5] In October 2020, T: The New York Times Style Magazine showcased the Wimberleys in their home in a feature on black families who settled in Sag Harbor in the 1930s and the decades after.[6]

Work

Wimberley paints abstractly in acrylic paints, using a wide variety of tools including scrapers, spatulas, and brushes.[7]

"Mr. Wimberley's canvases are entirely abstract, demanding to be taken for just what they are, pigment applied to cloth," wrote Helen A. Harrison for the New York Times in 1991. "Yet, in spite of the total lack of outside references, they conjure up a host of associations and implications."[8]

Frank Wimberley is represented by Berry Campbell Gallery in New York City.[9]

Critical reception

Writing about the artist's 1989 solo exhibition at the Fine Arts Center at the Southampton campus of Long Island University, New York Times critic Phyllis Braff wrote that Wimberley's "sweeping application of paint is the dominant action, serving as both theme and as principal generator of psychic energy." She credited the artist with a "forceful, imaginative and expressive use of color."[10] Grace Glueck, writing for the paper in 2001 about Wimberley's exhibition at June Kelly Gallery in New York City, said that Wimberley's "paintings are good to behold: beautifully brushed and infused with a light that magnifies their intensity."[11]

Critic Philip Barcio said of the work in Wimberley's 2019 exhibition at Berry Campbell Gallery, "The textures and surface qualities Wimberley coaxes from his paints make some appear like mirrors, and others like caverns into which the light seems to disappear. Some of his surfaces feel stand-offish, almost wounded. Others are as welcoming as a hug."[12]

Selected museum collections

References
  1. York, Jennifer M., ed. (2003). Who's Who Among African Americans. Gale / Cengage Learning. p. 1425. ISBN 9780787659158. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
  2. Trauring, Michelle (May 21, 2019). "Berry Campbell Presents Survey of Frank Wimberley Paintings". Sag Harbor Express.
  3. Harrison, Helen A. (February 25, 1979). "The Eastville Story". New York Times. Archived from the original on August 23, 2017. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  4. Segal, Mark (May 30, 2019). "The Art Scene 05.30.19". The East Hampton Star. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  5. McMullen, Troy (March 3, 2021). "Artist Frank Wimberley, at 94, is still full of surprises". ABC News. Archived from the original on March 15, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  6. Garcia, Sandra E. (October 1, 2020). "On Long Island, a Beachfront Haven for Black Families". T: The New York Times Style Magazine. Archived from the original on March 14, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  7. Hill Perrell, Franklin (June 20, 2019). "The Pure Vision of Frank Wimberley". Hamptons Art Hub. Archived from the original on November 29, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  8. Harrison, Helen A. (November 10, 1991). "Expressing Ideas Through Color". New York Times.
  9. "Berry Campbell Gallery, Artists Represented". Archived from the original on February 1, 2021. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  10. Braff, Pyllis (March 5, 1989). "An Abstract Universe". New York Times.
  11. Glueck, Grace (November 23, 2001). "Frank Wimberly, Compositions for Matter". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  12. Barcio, Philip (June 7, 2019). "Abstraction as Continuous Adventure - The Art of Frank Wimberley". IdeelArt. Archived from the original on December 4, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  13. "Driskell Center, search, Frank Wimberley". Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  14. "Islip Art Museum, Selections from the permanent collection". Archived from the original on October 25, 2020. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  15. "Frank Wimberley at the Saint Louis Art Museum". Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  16. "Yale University Art Gallery, Collage Panel, Frank Wimberley". Retrieved March 17, 2021.
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