Cullen Washington, Jr. (born 1972) is an African-American contemporary abstract painter. Washington lives and works in New York.

Early life and education

Cullen Washington, Jr. was born in

Alexandria, Louisiana Alexandria is the ninth-largest city in the state of Louisiana and is the parish seat and largest city of Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Rapides Parish, Louisiana, United States. It lies on the south bank of the Red River of the South, Red River ...

in 1972. As a child, he loved science, but also knew he wanted to be an artist at a young age. He grew up in a very supportive environment, where not only his parents but his two sisters encouraged him to develop his artistic skills. At the age of 9, he presented his first art exhibition at his elementary school in Alexandria, which made his interest in art grow even more rapidly. He earned his MFA degree from Tufts University/School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, and BFA degree from

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Career

Exhibitions

His work has been exhibited at The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston,

Saatchi Gallery The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art and an independent charity opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985. Exhibitions which drew upon the collection of Charles Saatchi, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the ...

in London, and the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. From January to March 2020, the

University of Michigan Museum of Art The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) is one of the largest university art museums in the United States, located in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with . Built as a war memorial in 1909 for the university's fallen alumni from the Civil War, Alu ...

exhibited Washington's work in a show titled ''Cullen Washington, Jr.: The Public Square''. Though scheduled to be active through May, the exhibition was cut short when the museum closed in mid-March due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Consequently, the museum put Washington's work on their website as an online exhibition.

Artist residencies

Washington has been an artist in residence at

Amherst College Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...

(2016–17), the Fountainhead Residency (2016),The Studio Museum in Harlem (2013); Rush Arts Gallery (2012),

Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March ...

(2011), and

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture The Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture is an artists residency located in Madison, Maine, just outside of Skowhegan. Every year, the program accepts online applications from emerging artists from November through January, and selects 65 ...

(2010).

Artistic style

Washington's paintings often utilize materials such as "tape, canvas, acrylic paint, charcoal dust, Black chalkboard paint, paper, Black copier toner, acrylic medium, Black ink, Kraft paper, wax coated cotton string, latex house paint, rubber, wire, hot plastic glue and ear phone cushions." He describes his work as "non-representational."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Cullen, Jr. Painters from Louisiana American contemporary painters American collage artists People from Alexandria, Louisiana School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni Louisiana State University alumni American abstract painters Living people 1972 births 21st-century American painters 21st-century American male artists 21st-century African-American painters 20th-century African-American artists