PMA Magazine

With the breadth of reference that enters smoothly and easily into his work, Driskell proves himself to be a one-of-a-kind artist — a scholar painter full of love and verve. Surely that is deserving of a museum’s attention. We ought to own up to the fact that it is long overdue.' This exhibition goes a long way toward making up for lost time.

That is perhaps one of the most striking things about the narrative of this show: it’s organized in a way that visitors can see how the pivotal moments in Driskell’s career were taking place at the same time as he was also having a significant impact on the next generation of artists.

"He gave so much time to engaging with people here. He established deep roots and connections. But he’s also an artist who brought Maine to a wider national and international conversation.” —PMA Chief Curator Shalini Le Gall in Down East Magazine

It’s a show you can return to often to discover new layers of this great artist’s soul. That is what makes Driskell such an original. No matter what genres or references his staggering mind and open heart are effortlessly synthesizing at any moment, the personalness of his work makes him feel intimately near and utterly one-of-a-kind.

Could anyone produce a body of work to rival a transformative agenda that changed the course of racial politics in American culture? Probably not. But can we see Driskell’s own art through those priorities, and understand that he walked as well as he talked? Yes, we can.

With nearly sixty paintings and works on paper, the exhibition reveals the remarkable ways in which Driskell’s art refracts the broader cultural and political concerns of Black Americans during the second half of the twentieth century, from the Civil Rights movement to the aesthetics of Pan-Africanism and the Black Arts Movement, to the continuing influence of the Bible and the Black church.

This exhibition gives people a chance to appreciate Driskell’s personal artistic expression, and comes at a time when the community, country and world reflect on equity, representation and race.