Benny Andrews (November 13, 1930 – November 10, 2006) was an
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
artist, activist and educator.
Born in
Plainview, Georgia, Andrews earned a BFA in painting from the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...
in 1958, and soon after moved to New York. He is known for his expressive, figurative paintings that often incorporated collaged fabric and other material. Andrews helped found the
Black Emergency Cultural Coalition
The Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC) was founded by a group of artists as an art strike to protest New York museums for their exclusion of black artists and curators in major art exhibitions. For many years, the BECC and its members direc ...
, which agitated for greater representation of African-American artists and curators in New York’s major art museums in the late 1960s and 70s. He also led the group in founding an arts education program in prisons and detention centers.
Andrews taught art at
Queens College for three decades, and from 1982 to 1984, served as the director of the Visual Arts Program for the National Endowment for the Arts. He received many awards, including the
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was an American venture capitalist, sportsman, philanthropist, newspaper publisher, film producer and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the '' New ...
Fellowship (1965–66), the
New York Council on the Arts fellowships (1971–81), and the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
Fellowship (1974–81).
Background
Benny Andrews was born into a family of ten on November 13, 1930, in the small community of
Plainview, Georgia. His parents,
George and Viola (née Perryman), were sharecroppers.
His mother and father emphasized the importance of education, religion, and freedom of expression. Andrews' father was a self-taught artist whose drawings and paintings led to renown as the "Dot Man" and a retrospective at the
Morris Museum of Art.
Despite his parents' stress on education, they could not afford to let Andrews go to school when they needed his help to pick or plant cotton. He attended Plainview Elementary School, a one-and-a-half room log cabin.
Education past the seventh grade was discouraged in the sharecropping community, but Andrews parents allowed him and his siblings to attend high school during the winter months.
Andrews managed to graduate from Burney Street High School in
Madison, Georgia, in 1948, making him his family's first high school graduate.
He received a two-year scholarship to go to
Fort Valley College, a black state college in Georgia, for his work in the local
4-H
4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times ...
organization.
Unfortunately, Fort Valley College's limited art curriculum made it difficult for him to explore a range of media. He did, however, spend one summer painting murals in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
during this time.
Andrews' grades were poor, so when his scholarship ran out, he left college to join the
U.S. Air Force.
He trained in
Texas
Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...
before serving as a
staff sergeant
Staff sergeant is a Military rank, rank of non-commissioned officer used in the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services.
History of title
In origin, certain senior sergeants were assigned to administr ...
in
Korea
Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
.
While serving in the military, Andrews regularly sent his earnings home to support his mother and younger siblings.
Having served from 1950 to July 1954, when he received an honorable discharge, Andrews used the
G.I. Bill
The G.I. Bill, formally the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was a law that provided a range of benefits for some of the returning World War II veterans (commonly referred to as G.I. (military), G.I.s). The original G.I. Bill expired in ...
to attend the
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...
, where he was trained as an
abstract expressionist
Abstract expressionism in the United States emerged as a distinct art movement in the aftermath of World War II and gained mainstream acceptance in the 1950s, a shift from the American social realism of the 1930s influenced by the Great Depressi ...
and received his
BFA.
Prior to beginning his education at the Art Institute of Chicago, Andrews had never set foot in a museum.
His professor Boris Margo helped Andrews discover his own personalized art style during this time and encouraged Andrews to experiment with combining painting and
collage
Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
techniques.
While earning his BFA, Andrews also worked as an illustrator for record companies and created advertisements for various Chicago theater companies.
He also regularly created and sold sketches of Chicago's
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
scene.
After graduating from the School of Art Institute of Chicago, Andrews moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
in 1958, where he settled on the
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...
.
He began working in the Christmas card division of the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
in order to generate income for his young family.
His work also steadily gained critical attention and was exhibited in several cities, including New York,
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
,
Detroit
Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...
,
Provincetown, Massachusetts, where Paul Kessler gave Andrews his first solo show in 1960.
In 1962 the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' praised his first New York City solo exhibit at the Forum Gallery.
He received the
John Hay Whitney
John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was an American venture capitalist, sportsman, philanthropist, newspaper publisher, film producer and diplomat who served as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the '' New ...
Fellowship for 1965.
This fellowship was renewed in 1966, and Andrews used the money to return to Georgia.
While in Georgia, Andrews created his ''Autobiographical Series'' of paintings.
He then received a CAPS award from the
New York State Council on the Arts in 1971.
In the same year, he painted one of his most notable works, ''No More Games'', which highlighted the plight of black artists and became an icon of his emerging
social justice
Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...
activism in the art world.
In 1966 Andrews began teaching art classes in drawing and painting at the
New School for Social Research
The New School for Social Research (NSSR), previously known as The University in Exile and The New School University, is a graduate-level educational division of The New School in New York City, United States. NSSR enrolls more than 1,000 stud ...
in New York, the
Jewish Community Center
A Jewish Community Center or a Jewish Community Centre (JCC) is a general recreational, social, and fraternal organization serving the Jewish community in a number of cities. JCCs promote Jewish culture and heritage through holiday celebrations, ...
in
Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne ( ) is a City (New Jersey), city in Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey, in the Gateway Region on Bergen Neck, a peninsula between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York ...
, and an arts initiative in the
South Bronx
The South Bronx is an area of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The area comprises neighborhoods in the southern part of the Bronx, such as Concourse, Bronx, Concourse, Mott Haven, Bronx, Mott Haven, Melrose, B ...
.
Then, from 1968 to 1997, he taught at
Queens College, City University of New York
Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing.
Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...
in the SEEK program, which offered academic support for underserved students.
In 1971, Andrews began teaching at the
Manhattan Detention Complex.
His arts program for prisons soon became a national model.
Mayor John Lindsey honors Andrews for his work in 1973, and in 1976 Andrews curated an exhibition of work made by prisoners at the
Studio Museum in Harlem
The Studio Museum in Harlem is an African-American art museum at 144 West 125th Street in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. Founded in 1968, the museum collects, preserves and interprets art created by African A ...
.
In 1976, Andrews became the art program director for the Inner City Roundtable of Youths.
This organization was composed of gang members who sought to combat youth violence and strengthen New York City's urban communities.
Starting in the 1970s, Andrews regularly spent time at
MacDowell.
He was elected to the colony's board of directors in 1987.
Social justice work
In 1969, Andrews co-founded the Black Emergency Cultural Coalition (BECC), an organization that protested the ''
Harlem on My Mind: Cultural Capital of Black America, 1900-1968'' exhibit at the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
. No African-Americans had been involved in organizing the show, and it contained no art—only photo reproductions and copies of newspaper articles about Harlem.
The BECC then persuaded the
Whitney Museum
The Whitney Museum of American Art, known informally as "The Whitney", is a Modern art, modern and Contemporary art, contemporary American art museum located in the Meatpacking District, Manhattan, Meatpacking District and West Village neighbor ...
to launch a similar exhibition of African American artists, but later felt compelled to boycott the Whitney show for similar reasons.
From 1982 to 1984, Andrews served as the director of visual arts for the
National Endowment for the Arts
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...
. In this position, he had the chance to advocate for fellowships and grants to go to talented black artists who may otherwise have escaped notice.
Andrews traveled in 2006 to the
Gulf Coast
The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South or the South Coast, is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Tex ...
to work on an art project with children displaced by
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
.
Art
Benny Andrews was a
figural painter in the
expressionist style who painted a diverse range of themes of suffering and injustice, including the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
,
Native American forced migrations, and
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...
. In the 1960s he began to find his own style of painting, which developed parallel to the flourishing
collage
Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...
moment.
Other influences on his work include
surrealism
Surrealism is an art movement, art and cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists aimed to allow the unconscious mind to express itself, often resulting in the depiction of illogical or dreamlike s ...
and Southern
folk art
Folk art covers all forms of visual art made in the context of folk culture. Definitions vary, but generally the objects have practical utility of some kind, rather than being exclusively decorative art, decorative. The makers of folk art a ...
. His work hangs in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...
in New York City; the
Art Institute of Chicago
The Art Institute of Chicago, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest art museums in the United States. The museum is based in the Art Institute of Chicago Building in Chicago's Grant Park (Chicago), Grant Park. Its collection, stewa ...
; the
Studio Museum in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
(New York City); the
High Museum of Art
The High Museum of Art (colloquially the High) is the largest museum for visual art in the Southeastern United States. Located in Atlanta, Georgia (on Peachtree Street in Midtown, the city's arts district), the High is 312,000 square feet (28, ...
in
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...
; the
Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, DC; the
National Gallery of Art
The National Gallery of Art is an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of charge, the museum was privately established in ...
in Washington, DC;
The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC; and the
Ogden Museum of Southern Art
The Ogden Museum of Southern Art is a museum dedicated to art by artists from the southern United States in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was established in 1999.
The building
The Ogden museum is located in the Warehouse Arts District of downtown ...
in
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
.
During the 1970s, he participated in a community art space called Communications Village operated by printmaker
Benjamin Leroy Wigfall in Kingston, NY. Andrews made prints with the help of printer assistants who had been taught printmaking by Wigfall, and he exhibited there.
Reflecting his
minimalist style, Andrews said he was not interested in how much he could paint, but how little. He incorporated his sparing use of geometrical forms to convey broader messages about his subjects. Gabriel Tenabe describes his drawing as "delicate, subtle, and intimate... draw(ing) from his past private life in Georgia and his social life in New York."
Christian imagery is juxtaposed with sensibilities of
humanism
Humanism is a philosophy, philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and Agency (philosophy), agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The me ...
to call out false religion, false democracy,
sexism
Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
, and
militarism
Militarism is the belief or the desire of a government or a people that a state should maintain a strong military capability and to use it aggressively to expand national interests and/or values. It may also imply the glorification of the mili ...
and their roles in creating a failed society.
Using various media, Andrews depicted diverse American scenes and people in a figurative style that he felt both reflected the dignity of those he portrayed and served his commitment to social change.
Family life
Benny Andrews married Mary Ellen Jones Smith, a photographer, in 1957.
The couple had three children, Christopher, Thomas, and Julia, before separating in 1976.
The couple officially divorced in 1986.
Andrews then married artist
Nene Humphrey in 1986.
The couple met at MacDowell.
Andrews died of cancer on November 10, 2006, at the age of 75.
Honors and awards
* John Hay Whitney Fellowship - 1965-66
* New York Council for the Arts Fellowship - 1971-1981
*
MacDowell Fellowships - 1972-1973, 1975-1978
* National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship - 1974-1981
* O'Hara Museum Prize,
Tokyo
Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
-1976
* Bellagio Fellowship,
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...
- 1990
* Member of the
National Academy of Design
The National Academy of Design is an honorary association of American artists, founded in New York City in 1825 by Samuel Morse, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, Frederick Styles Agate, Martin E. Thompson, Charles Cushing Wright, Ithiel Town, an ...
- 1997
* President’s Award to The Benny Andrews Foundation,
United Negro College Fund - 2010
Selected Collections
*
Minneapolis Institute of Art
The Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) is an arts museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. Home to more than 90,000 works of art representing 5,000 years of world history, Mia is one of the List of largest art museums, largest ar ...
, Minneapolis, MN
References
External links
New York Times obituaryBenny Andrews papers, 1945–1968from the Smithsonian
Archives of American Art
The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...
*
* Benny Andrews at th
Minneapolis Institute of Art, Minneapolis, MNBenny Andrews papers, 1940-2006from th
Stuart A. Rose Library, Emory UniversityBenny Andrew's Estatewebsite
{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrews, Benny
1930 births
2006 deaths
20th-century American painters
American male painters
21st-century American painters
21st-century American male artists
20th-century American male artists
American Expressionist painters
American art educators
20th-century American educators
School of the Art Institute of Chicago alumni
Queens College, City University of New York faculty
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
People from Morgan County, Georgia
Painters from Georgia (U.S. state)
20th-century American printmakers
African-American printmakers
20th-century African-American painters
21st-century African-American artists