Florida Highwaymen for Black History month

For the month of February, Daniels Spectrum is celebrating Black History Month by mounting a major selection of original paintings from the historic and celebrated Florida Highwaymen.

The exhibition brings together 30 original pieces created by the Florida Highwaymen, a group of 26 self-taught African-American landscape painters that formed during the mid-1950s in Fort Pierce, Florida. Their careers took shape during the violent social conditions of the Jim Crow South, where pursuing a career as an artist presented an alternative to working in citrus groves and labor camps. http://floridahighwaymen.com/black history

Daniels Spectrum 585 Dundas Street East, Toronto, ON (map)

The artists developed a mode of impressionism with an undeniable and necessary social consciousness. The remarkable use of colour, interpreted as a form of escapism from the racial tensions of the time, give each seemingly neutral image a spectacular, almost ethereal quality. Each work becomes an emblem of longing, looking towards nature to envision a new American life. black history

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/27/books/arts-in-america-sunshine-for-windy-dreamscapes.html
The exhibition intentionally coincides with Black History Month to encourage cross-cultural dialogue on topics such as black history, contemporary racial politics and future social justice strategies.

After being mounted at Daniels Spectrum, this show returns to its home in the United States. See it before it’s too late!

All works in this exhibition have been generously loaned to Daniels Spectrum by Tony Hayton, an Ottawa-based Canadian art collector. Hayton and the only female Florida Highwayman, Mary Ann Caroll, were present at the at the opening reception at Daniels Spectrum on February 9.

The show runs from now to March 12, 2017