Dean Mitchell

Last updated
Dean Mitchell
Born1957 (age 66–67)
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Education Columbus College of Art & Design, Illustration, 1980 [1]
Occupationfigurative artist
Website deanmitchellstudio.com

Dean Mitchell (born 1957) is an American figurative artist who works primarily in watercolor and oil paint. His subjects, derived largely from African American culture, have been cited for their emotional depth, avoidance of facile sentimentality, and accomplished sense of formal design. [2]

Contents

Mitchell was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1957, and raised in Quincy, Florida. [3] [4] [5] After graduating from the Columbus College of Art and Design in 1980, Mitchell moved to Kansas City, Missouri and started working as an illustrator at Hallmark Cards. He remained at Hallmark for the next three years and began entering national and international art competitions. When Hallmark terminated his employment in 1983, he decided to pursue painting as a full-time career. [6] [7]

Mitchell's artwork has been the subject of numerous articles, and is represented in museum and corporate collections, including the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Saint Louis Art Museum. [8] His life is the subject of an illustrated book for children, Against All Odds: Artist Dean Mitchell's Story.

Mitchell has also illustrated US postage stamps, such as the 1995 Louis Armstrong stamp in the Jazz Musician series. [9] [10]

Exhibitions

YearExhibitVenueNotes
1990Reflections ‘90 Bruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, Kansas City, MOJuried exhibition. Allen’s oil painting “Big Wind” features a jazz bassist. Other artists included Richard McGill, Dean Mitchell, and Joseph L. Smith. [11]
1996A Dean Mitchell Anthology Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KSSolo exhibition featuring architectural watercolors, oil paintings, and portraits. [12] [13] [14]
1999The Kansas City Six: A ReunionBruce R. Watkins Cultural Center, Kansas City, MOExhibit featured art by Leroy Allen, Thomas Blackshear II, Henry Dixon, Jonathan Knight, Dean Mitchell, Ezra Tucker. [15]
2002 Black Romantic Studio Museum in Harlem, New York City, NYArtists included Dean Mitchell, Troy L. Johnson, Kadir Nelson and Kehinde Wiley. [16] [17]
2004Works by Dean Mitchell: Coming Home Gadsden Arts Center & Museum, Quincy, FLSolo exhibition. [18] [19]
2004Art: My Window to the World American Jazz Museum, Kansas City, MOSolo exhibition featuring 100 oil paintings, drawings, watercolors, and etchings. [20] [21]
2005Second LightCarter Art Center Gallery, Penn Valley Community College, Kansas City, MOFourteen artists exhibited including Dean Mitchell, Leroy Allen, George Mayfield, and Bonnye Brown. [22]
2005Backbone: Dean Mitchell's Images of African-American Men Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MSSolo exhibition featuring 45 portraits of African-American men. [23] [24]
2008Dean Mitchell's New OrleansGadsden Arts Center & Museum, Quincy, FLSolo exhibition featuring 42 watercolors, acrylic, and oil paintings inspired by New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina. [18] [25] [26]
2008Everything's a Portrait: The Watercolors of Dean MitchellCornell Museum of Art, Delray, FLSolo exhibition featuring watercolors, as well as etchings, drawings, acrylic and oil paintings. [27] [28] [21]
2010Dean Mitchell: Visions with Heart and Soul Leepa Rattner Museum of Art, Tarpon Springs, FLRetrospective exhibition featuring drawings, watercolors, acrylic, and oil paintings. [29] [30]
2010Dean Mitchell: Space, People and Places Canton Museum of Art, Canton, OHSolo exhibition featuring 40 recent watercolors. [31] [32]
2011Dean Mitchell: Rich in SpiritGadsden Arts Center & Museum, Quincy, FLSolo exhibition. [7]
2015Dean Mitchell: A Place, A Mental SpaceMarianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art, Manhattan, KSSolo exhibition of watercolor and oil paintings of scenes from the Pima-Maricopa Reservation (Phoenix, AZ) and the artist's hometown (Quincy, FL). [33] [34]
2016Dean Mitchell's American West: Poverty and the Human SpiritGadsden Arts Center & Museum, Quincy, FLSolo exhibition exploring poverty and the decay of the built environment inspired by visits to the Pima-Maricopa Reservation in Phoenix, AZ. [18] [35]
2020Looking at America and Painting How I Want, What I Want and How I See It Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GASolo exhibition featuring watercolor and acrylic paintings. [36] [37]

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References

  1. ↑ "CCAD Alumni Awards". CCAD. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
  2. ↑ Dean Mitchell's soul-satisfying art exhibit now at Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art Archived 2017-08-06 at the Wayback Machine . Tampa Bay.com. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Biography, Florida Blackloquence of his concentration and touch". Archived from the original on 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  4. ↑ Kimmelman, Michael. A Black World Of Ins and Outs. New York Times, April 26, 2002. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  5. ↑ For cultural critic Reginald Gant, Mitchell’s art "comes right out of the African-American experience. It’s the result of an aural construct—‘call and response’—that evolved during slavery (one group of slaves would sing out, and another group would respond). Imperative in these exchanges were issues of faith, trust, and perseverance."
  6. ↑ Janicke, Tim (March 3, 2002). "Off the Easel of Success". Kansas City Star Magazine.
  7. 1 2 Gangelhoff, Bonnie (2011-03-16). "Dean Mitchell: New Orleans & African American Art". Southwest Art Magazine. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  8. ↑ Biography Archived 2010-07-13 at the Wayback Machine . Autry National Center. Retrieved July 31, 2010.
  9. ↑ "Jazz Musicians: Louis Armstrong". postalmuseum.si.edu. Retrieved 26 December 2018.[ permanent dead link ]
  10. ↑ "African American Stamp Artists". ESPER (African American Stamp Society ). Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  11. ↑ "Reflections '90". Kansas City Star. 9 September 1990. p. 150.
  12. ↑ "Exhibition Archive: 1996-1998 | Past Exhibitions | Exhibitions | Explore | Beach Museum of Art | Kansas State University". beach.k-state.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  13. ↑ Kansas State collegian. Kansas State University Libraries. Student Publications, Inc. (1946-1955). Prior to 1946, Kansas State University. 1997.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  14. ↑ ArtFacts. "A Dean Mitchell Anthology | Exhibition". ArtFacts. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  15. ↑ "Openings". Kansas City Star. 12 February 1999. p. I5.
  16. ↑ Kimmelman, Michael (26 April 2002). "ART REVIEW; A Black World Of Ins and Outs". The New York Times. Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  17. ↑ Black romantic: the figurative impulse in contemporary African-American art. Studio Museum in Harlem. 2002. ISBN   9780942949230. OCLC   50256393 . Retrieved 27 December 2018.
  18. 1 2 3 "Past Exhibitions". gadsdenarts.org. Archived from the original on 2020-05-12. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  19. ↑ "Accolades | Dean Mitchell Studio". deanmitchellstudio.com. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  20. ↑ Thorson, Alice (December 12, 2004). "Mitchell's 'Window' offers singular view of black culture". Kansas City Star.
  21. 1 2 "Mitchell, Dean Lamont". 216.197.120.164. Retrieved 2020-02-22.[ permanent dead link ]
  22. ↑ Cardarella, Toni (1 June 2005). "Gallery's show spotlights African-American artists". Kansas City Star. p. 3.
  23. ↑ Collier, Natalie A. "Portrait Of A Black Man". www.jacksonfreepress.com. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  24. ↑ ArtFacts. "Backbone - Dean Mitchell's Images of African American Men | Exhibition". ArtFacts. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  25. ↑ "Gadsden County times". ufdc.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  26. ↑ "Gadsden County times". ufdc.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  27. ↑ Summers, Marya (2008-05-29). "Everything's a Portrait: Watercolors of Dean Mitchell". New Times Broward-Palm Beach. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  28. ↑ Palm Beach Life. Palm Beach Newspapers. December 2007.
  29. ↑ Inc, Tampa Bay Publications (March–April 2010). Tampa Bay Magazine. Tampa Bay Publications, Inc.{{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  30. ↑ ArtFacts. "Dean Mitchell: Visions with Heart and Soul | Exhibition". ArtFacts. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  31. ↑ "Dean Mitchell: Space, People & Places | Canton Museum of Art". stage3.famcominc.com. Retrieved 2020-02-22.[ permanent dead link ]
  32. ↑ ArtFacts. "Dean Mitchell: Space, People & Places | Exhibition". ArtFacts. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  33. ↑ "Dean Mitchell: A Place, A Mental Space | Exhibitions | Explore | Beach Museum of Art | Kansas State University". beach.k-state.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  34. ↑ ArtFacts. "Dean Mitchell: A Place, A Mental Space | Exhibition". ArtFacts. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  35. ↑ "Dean Mitchell's American West opens Jan. 15 at the Gadsden Arts Center". The Calhoun-Liberty Journal. January 6, 2016. Retrieved February 22, 2020.
  36. ↑ "Dean Mitchell". Albany Museum of Art. Archived from the original on 2020-02-22. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  37. ↑ "Looking at America". Western Art Collector. 150: 30. February 2020.
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