Ekua Holmes | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1955-07-06)6 July 1955 (age 69) |
| Alma mater | Massachusetts College of Art and Design (BFA) |
Ekua Holmes (born in 1955) is an Americanmixed-media artist, children'sbook illustrator, and arts organization professional. Holmes' primary method of art making is mixed mediacollage, by layering newspaper, photos, fabric, and other materials to create colorful compositions. Many of these works evoke her childhood in Roxbury's Washington Park neighborhood inBoston, MA.[1]
Ekua Holmes was born inRoxbury, Massachusetts in 1955.
Holmes holds a BFA in Photography from theMassachusetts College of Art and Design.[1]
As a young artist, Holmes discovered the power offound objects, which derive their identity as art from places as well as the social histories attached to the objects. She uses found newspapers, magazines, old stamps, and so on.[2] She often creates patterns using these materials. Childhood, family bonds, memory, and resilience are frequent themes in her work. Many of Holmes's collages are reminiscent of works by African and African American artists such as the lateRomare Bearden,Jacob Lawrence, andNjideka Akunyili.[3] Like these artists, her works reflect a commitment to Black imagery and representation.
About her work, Holmes said,
“In everything I create I hear them saying, ‘Remember Me,’ and through my work I honor their legacies by bringing them forward to life with torn and cut shapes of found colors and textures. With these scraps and remnants, assembled like a down-home quilt, I rebuild my world, putting in what speaks to my personal and cultural narrative.”[3]
OnMartin Luther King Jr. Day in 2015, Holmes'sGoogle Doodle illustration honoring the civil rights leader was the featured image on Google's U.S. homepage. The collage depicts King walking arm in arm with fellow activists inSelma, Alabama.[1]
Holmes founded The Great Black Art Collection, an organization dedicated to both giving a platform to emerging artists and to introducing Black art to previously unreached audiences.[4]
Holmes is currently Vice-Chair of theBoston Arts Commission.[5] Holmes is also currently working inBoston as an assistant director at the Center for Art and Community Partnerships at MassArt. There, she manages sparc! the ArtMobile.[4]
Holmes has illustrated severalchildren's picture books, garnering awards for several.
A selection of works from her award-winning children’s book illustrations is on view at the MFA Boston as part of a 2021 solo exhibition titled, "Paper Stories, Layered Dreams The Art of Ekua Holmes". These works consist of collages and original illustrations from Holmes’s published book projects.
Holmes' first exhibition was in 2000, at "Renewal and Regeneration" at Museum of Our National Heritage, Lexington, MA.[4]
She has also exhibited at Hess Gallery ofPine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA, and Harvard Medical School's Transit Gallery.[6][7]
Her work is in the public collections of the Museum of theNational Center of Afro-American Artists,Boston Medical Center,Boston Arts Academy,Dana Farber Cancer Center and theBoston Children's Hospital.
Holmes' "Crosswalks and Bus StopsArchived 2017-02-23 at theWayback Machine" was installed at Northeastern University, in oversize glass windows that faced onto Parker Street and Huntington Avenue. The work was part of Northeastern'sPublic Art InitiativeArchived 2019-01-22 at theWayback Machine, a platform for artists from the local community and the world.
In 2013, Holmes was awarded theNAACP Image Award.[8]
Voice of Freedom won aCaldecott Honor, aRobert F. Sibert Honor,John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award, and aBoston Globe-Horn Book Nonfiction Honor.[9]
Holmes was awarded the 2018Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award forOut of Wonder and the 2019 award forThe Stuff of Stars.[10]
Holmes was the recipient of a 2013 Brother Thomas Fellowship fromThe Boston Foundation.[11] Also in 2013, Holmes was named to theBoston Art Commission, which oversees public art projects on city property. In 2015, she installed a community-based work for an opening at theInstitute of Contemporary Art Boston, which consisted of a gigantic interactive collage with scenes of Boston in transition, designed to complement the ICA group show, “When the Stars Begin to Fall.”[1]
