Bid to win Crossing Gods painting by Ernest Shaw. For information on the artist, please click here.
Artist: Ernest Shaw
Title: Crossing Gods
Year created: 2020
Medium: Canvas - Mixed Media
Dimensions: 72"H x 48"W x 3"D
Signed by the artist
Signed Area: front
This piece is unframed.
Description of piece:
Local Baltimore artist (Ernest Shaw) has presented the idea of two youth, late teen males, Black, who work on the streets as squeegee kids. They are polarizing figures in the city who represent the same facet of the city's demographic as the 12 o’clock boys. They exhibit an entrepreneurial spirit and were also mentioned in the film.
Artist bio:
Ernest Shaw's work defines the duality of the African American experience, exhibiting this dichotomy through an array of media and concepts. The most prevalent aspect of the artist’s work is his use and understanding of color and the figure. The figure in his work is a continuation of a rich history of African and African American figurative art, and his use of color demonstrates a deep level of understanding of rhythm taught to him by several West African drum instructors. Artist Ernest Shaw, Jr. was born and has lived most of his life in Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Shaw comes from a family of visual and performing artists. As a youngster growing up in West Baltimore, there was never an absence of influence or inspiration thanks to the support and encouragement of his parents. He appreciates them all the more, as he recognizes that it is not easy to raise a child artist. Ernest is a product of Baltimore City Public Schools, where he graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts—and where he currently teaches. He continued his education with a B.A. in Art from Morgan State University and an M.F.A. from Howard University in Washington, D.C. In addition to teaching in Baltimore City, he is also an adjunct professor at The Maryland Institute College of Art.
CHARM CITY KINGS airs on 10/8 only on HBO Max: In this gritty coming-of-age drama, fourteen-year-old Mouse (Jahi Di’Allo Winston) desperately wants to join the Midnight Clique, an infamous group of Baltimore dirt-bike riders who rule the summertime streets. His older brother, Stro, was their top rider before his tragic death—a loss that consumes Mouse as much as his passion for bikes. Mouse’s mom (Teyonah Parris) and his police mentor, Detective Rivers (William Catlett), work overtime to help the charismatic teen reach his full potential, but when the Midnight Clique’s leader, Blax (Meek Mill), takes the boy under his wing, the lure of revving his own dirt bike skids Mouse toward a road way past the straight and narrow.