THE BLACK BIBLE
Works by Charlie Newton
Moses Descending, Oil on Canvas, 24 x 30
Jan 14 - March 26, 2022
Opening: Jan 14, 6 - 9 PM
“We don’t need to re-write the Bible. Instead, we need to reconstruct our concepts, percepts, and precepts of how the Bible is written. History, as well as Bible precepts and percepts, are mostly of European influence.
The distillation of the historicism of the Bible has been and is being dramatically changed and reformed due to the diaspora peoples (in America) awakening to the false narratives put forth by white supremacy.
I am interested in the interface of young black American youth influencing the entire world, even Africa. The diaspora sent culture through the furnace of American and European white supremacy and racism. But something unique happened. The slave trade proved to not only be a fiery furnace but a melting pot or refiners fire that God meant to elevate civilization to where it’s headed now (in the positive sense; the negative forces and ideologies espoused by demonic powers of nationalism and supremacy are still at work in the west).
Not only are black Americans and black American culture and aesthetics influencing world culture but African culture. What does this mean? It means that Africa is enlarging itself. So we must eject European imagery concepts, processes, and precepts of Jesus and the Jewish people in support of an African version of biblical historicism.
Jesus spoke Aramaic and the terms Near East and Middle East were created by Europeans in the conquest of African nations.
In light of the first man being born in Africa or on the African continent, it changes my practice in the light of world history. I must allow my mind to be open to receiving Spiritual information that will connect me back to my creator, and I must open my eyes and see what’s already there.
The first man was made from the dust of the ground. What color is dirt? Jesus is a direct descendant in his humanity from Adam and his divinity from God. So indeed, I was made in the image of God, and I will celebrate that, and I will pronounce that and proclaim that and preach that and prophesy that, and more importantly, I will paint that.”
- Charlie Newton
Conversation between Charlie Newton and Donivan Brown:
Artist Statement:
My practice is "Southern African American Spiritual Painting" with roots in quilt making (inspired by my grandmother, Beulah Taylor), Spirituality (my mother and father John and Sarah Newton; My father sang in a gospel group and my mother saw ghosts), and African Shamanism (the power image ie. Fetish). I can bring those things together via my unique American experience (I'm a black preacher, apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher but nonreligious) and share with all generations.
I am making paintings, sculptures, and installations that psychologically deconstruct the Diaspora for me producing healing empowering imagery that is colorful and filled with movement and positive energy. The support is manipulated, sculpted, draped, and may consist of many colors, heavy impasto, multiple and overlapping images and sometimes found and created objects organized in such a way as to imply ritual and spirituality. Color and brushstroke create passages throughout the surface and composition to lead the eye around and through the painting establishing a visual dialogue with the viewer about culture and spirituality. Line and edge achieve this in the sculpture. In many of the works relief and flat imagery coexist blurring the edge between sculpture and painting. Often psychological content is established via forms of color, geometric shapes, or designs that I named 'African Chips', (these chips are condensed archetypes that are historical, sometimes personal but always universal). They depict the culture and are visual psychological pressure points used to pause the eye in order facilitate personal revelations.
The heroic Black body is elevated, enlarged, glorified, and celebrated to counteract the psycho degenerated attack
My work investigates a history that has largely been lost or distorted due to slavery and western cultural norms robbing African Americans of a sense of history, continuity, and family. I believe that my DNA preserves a type of cultural history originating from the dawn of human history that can be gleaned for imagery and expression recovering history from memories embedded in the psychology and physiology of the human soul and black body.
My talent is a gift from God and should be used through the power of love. I am not denying my African roots but embracing them particularly the energy and soul force inherited from the ancestors including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. A. M. Silar, Shamans, and the Fetish.
Spirituality under-girds meaning and deepens content through the use of vibrant color and complex light. The paint is applied bruskly to activate the surface. Canvas is sometimes draped expressing restrictions, struggle, and tensions of the Black experience.
Many of the paintings are prophetic visions and come directly from God. I try to paint what God has shown me. The line often gives way to the edge making references to prayers, chants, tongues, and music to illustrate my vision.
I want to make art that is meaningful and empowering; that has more than surface value but intellectually recalls African approaches to image-making and at the same time reflects contemporary practices.
NOTE: If you are interested in purchasing one of Charlie’s works, we will happily introduce you to the artist. Stove Works does not actively sell work nor does it take a percentage of sales.
About the Artist:
Charlie Newton has been painting professionally for over 50 years having received a BA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, TN in 1975 and an MFA from Old Dominion and Norfolk State Universities in 1987.
He has exhibited in London, Italy, New York, and throughout the Southeastern United States. His works hang in public and private collections all over the world including The Paul R. Jones Museum, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, Maloney Art Gallery, Annunciation Center, College of Saint Elizabeth, Morristown, NJ, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, the Norfolk Zoo, Norfolk Virginia, The Beatties Ford Road Library, Charlotte, NC, and the Hunter Museum of American Art, Chattanooga, TN.
