HFAS 2015 – Artist Spotlight – Michael Escoffery

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, to parents who were also artists,  Escoffery reminisces on receiving paintbrushes, paints and general art supplies as Christmas gifts. It was this early encouragement that Escoffery says convinced him at the early age of 10, that he wanted to pursue a career in art.  He attended the Edna Manley College of Visual Arts- the leading arts Education Institution in the English speaking Caribbean.  Upon graduation, he worked with major advertising agencies as a creative director, before migrating to the United States. Through it all, he has never lost sight of his goals and has worked consistently to build a reputation as a visual artist. He has exhibited in over 160 solo exhibitions and over 200 group shows worldwide. Escoffery has been the subject of numerous television, radio, newspaper and magazine profiles and his work is published in over 70 books worldwide and in 9 languages.

Escoffery has exhibited at galleries, Universities, corporate offices, Consulates, Embassies and museums throughout the Caribbean, North America and Europe.  His works are included in such corporate, institutional and individual collections as Sun Life Insurance, Harvard University; Virginia State University; Hon P.J. Patterson, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica; Mr. Edward Seaga, Former Prime Minister of Jamaica; Hon. David Dinkins, Former Mayor of New York City; Roberta Flack, Entertainer; Nelson Mandela, Former President of South Africa; Congressman Charles Rangel and HRH Prince George, Crown Prince of Servenia.

Like his heroes, Picasso, Jacob Lawrence and Romare Bearden,   Escoffery is also cutting a path for himself. His art transcends   boundaries as he captures the essence of provocative sexual pleasures or the beauty of the female form. Yet, he is also deep into the history of his people.  Escoffery has created  a number of seminal series-  “ABSTRACT REALISM”  an on-going fascination with relationship between abstraction and realism;  “ALL THAT JAZZ”, A series of collages, works on paper and oils on canvas, exploring Jazz music; “ICONOGRAPHY”  a series of  paintings of everyday objects unique to the Jamaican culture; “MALCOLM X” , Thirty-five works on paper dedicated to the memory of the late civil rights leader Malcolm X; “STARS & STRIPES”,  fifty-six paintings of the American Flag in which he uses the American flag in ways its creator would not have dreamed, presenting it in every imaginable variety of folds and drapes thereby transcending its identity to pure form; “400 YEARS OF MY PEOPLE: , a total of 75 portraits and paintings depicting the African Diaspora Images portrayed in these works represent symbols in the struggle of African-Caribbean-American history throughout the past 400 years. 

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