Raymond Thomas’ work commands attention.  Each month, people the world over see his work in Ebony magazine, the most recognized name among Black publications in the United States.   When Thomas is not working as the creative director for Ebony, he is usually at his studio painting or working on film projects. 

Thomas, an accomplished filmmaker, directed TWELVE MINUTES (2002), which is a favorite of independent Black film circles.  He is also presently working on several scripts.

His studio is on the third floor of a loft building that's located in a gentrifying section of Chicago’s industrial west side.  Thomas invited diversityinbusiness.com to come to see his latest series of paintings.  The series is called HEROES.

Thomas enjoys working thematically.  His current works reflect his personal frustrations with what he believes are negative trends within Black America, trends that are rooted in ignorance and self loathing.  These concerns forced Thomas to reflect upon individuals that have positively inspired him.  He chose to honor them in portraits that are abstractions of recognizable photos, washed (and sometimes splattered) with vibrant colors and framed by words in bold fonts.

When I arrived at Thomas’ studio, it was late afternoon on a warm, beautiful spring day.  I had visited the studio before, at night, when incenses, jazz music and indirect lighting give the place an almost theatrical feel.  Seeing the space in the light of day was no less stimulating.  I looked around at the ten, or so, paintings scattered around the studio.  They were depictions of icons of the African American community. 

Thomas' style is bold, dramatic and visually appealing. 

Before I immersed myself in the pieces, I turned to Thomas and asked if he would allow me to experience the works through his eyes.  Thomas welcomed the opportunity and proceeded to engage in a spirited discussion of his work. 

The following are edited highlights from our conversation.  My observations and comments are distinguished by italicized text.

dib:

Raymond, thanks for the invite.  What was the impetus for this HEROES series and which was your first painting?

RT:

Harriet Tubman.

RT:

When I thought about the series, I thought about this generation of Black folk, and how people don’t know about what we had to go through to live in the world and have the things that we do.  Harriet Tubman was the first person that came to mind as far as bringing our people from a slave place to a freed place.

This series is about showing these people, heroes, icons in a powerful, positive light. 

The pallet, as you can see, is very vibrant and bright.  I use a lot of colors, energy colors. 

A lot of my thought and theory were based on AfraCobra, and the things that Wadsworth Jarrell and James Donaldson did with AfraCobra to establish a Black aesthetic and a Black way of thinking about art.

I incorporated abstract, impressionistic strokes with hard graphic images and kind of merged them together for this particular look.

dib:

Most people are not familiar with the AfraCobra Movement. How would you describe it and how did it influence your work?

RT:

In the late 1960s, a group of Chicago Black artists got together and decided they wanted to create an aesthetic for Black art, a way to establish and define it that was totally separate from the European mindset.  So, they came up with AfraCobra, which is an acronym for the African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists.  They wanted to use traditions that have been historically significant to us as a people, and to how we create as far as rhythm, jazz, color and pattern are concerned.

I thought about those kinds of constructs when I was working, along with the spirit of the subject of which I was painting. 

I used typography, both aesthetically and as subject matter.

dib:

Give me an example of that.

Take the Marcus Garvey painting, UPLIFT RACE.  Race is upside down and backwards, but the “A” is ascending and it’s straight.  It reflects how I feel about how we are as a people, upside down and backwards, but yet we have hope of ascending.  Garvey was about getting us to understand our potential and to love our Black African selves - as oppose to merging into this Eurocentric type mindset.  I just think that we really need to come back to that mindset. 

I’m not saying anything negative about anybody else.  I’m just thinking about what we have to deal with as a people: issues of poverty and crime, HIV, the prison industrial complex, and education.  There are just so many issues that affect us in a way that’s almost genocidal, and we have been lulled into a sense of non-urgency. 

I want these paintings to hearken to the spirits of these people who sacrificed their lives and spent their energy and time educating and uplifting people.

RT:

Then there were people like Gordon Parks.  To me, his contribution as an artist was so profound.  I don’t think he gets enough credit for his output.  This brother was an incredible artist in so many mediums.  I’ve always been an admirer.  This piece is called GORDON PARKS FOCUS. 

I work in a lot of different mediums and it takes a certain focus to be able to do that, and then it takes a literal kind of focus to be able to craft a piece.  This painting is a play on that.  I almost use an impressionistic style, almost a Van Gogh type of style while still maintaining the graphic element.

dib: 

You have an interesting symbolic reference in that piece, the globe encircling his eye.  Gordon Parks literally saw a lot of the world and brought the world to many of us.

RT:

Mostly everything in the Gordon Parks piece is symbolic.  Even the brush strokes, to me, are symbolic in their application. 

With Rosa Parks, I chose an image of her holding up her prison number. 

Look at us today, we go to jail for brownie points on manhood – for stupid stuff.  This sister’s one act of passive resistance started a movement that made us be able to abuse the freedoms that we have now. 

Yet, Harriet Tubman and Rosa Parks have been used as jokes in films and things like that.

How can you joke and make light of what they did?

In the movie, BARBERSHOP, when they said she just sat down, that was the catalyst for this whole thought process.  I just started thinking: Have we really gone that bad, that far away that we reduce our icons and heroes to a joke? 

Martin Luther King.  How can you even put your mouth to say anything about this brother? 

We’re all human.  I’m human; and we all fall prey to our weaknesses, but his sacrifices, his devotion to the freedom of our people is unparallel in human history. 

And you’re going to try to tear this brother down? 

He gave everything he had to your freedom.  It’s just ignorant!

I think about the Jewish community.  There would be no way that they would belittle their heroes - people who fought for what they believe in.  How much more so should we embrace and uplift the standards in our community?

I understand that everybody is human, and that we all are not perfect, but Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King set examples from which everyone can glean something.

dib: 

Where do you think such license, such liberty to denigrate come from?

RT:

The celebration of ignorance that we have embraced as a community is just astounding. 

I was looking at a documentary on Jack Johnson, UNFORGIVABLE BLACKNESS. 

This brother was uneducated, but when you listen to the way he spoke, this so called uneducated man was astounding.  He was almost lyrical in his speech – a near poet. 

I’m thinking this brother, who was suppose to be uneducated spoke better than some of these so called masters degree-holders. 

We have come so far from embracing education and from trying to be better human beings, from understanding who we are as human beings from a historical standpoint.  I really think it’s a part of trying to make us commerce, and making us consumers.

There’s a scripture in the Bible, in Galatians, that I like to quote.  It says, “Envy not thy oppressor, and choose none of his ways.”  But we have wholeheartedly done just that.  We envy the so called American dream.  We have embraced materialism and the things that you can’t even hold onto, as oppose to building legacies and trying to strengthen our communities, like other communities have done. 

All these other communities understand the value of “us-ness,” and we have totally, totally, totally lost it!

People don’t want to talk about this, but it all started with us being chattel, slaves, and being bred to have a certain mindset.  If you read the Willie Lynch laws, you will understand that certain mindsets and behaviors were bred into us. 

Take any animal on this planet, if they are bred a certain way, that bred behavior or characteristic becomes a part of them.  It doesn’t automatically leave them.  A lot of people will say, “Oh that was way back then.”  But you have to understand the root of the problem.  I think the ignorant behaviors we’re talking about were nurtured in us through laws and systems that help promote that type of thinking. 

I’m an artist, and I feel compelled to use my art to address things like that - while being aesthetically sound.

dib:

Yes, but is anyone listening?  For so many in our community, they’re only interested in bling.

RT:

Yeah, it’s a sickness man, a very, very, very terrible sickness – materialism. 

Everyone likes nice things, but you have to understand what is going to retain value, and what is going to be important not only in the present, but across future generations.  Art is one thing that retains value and grows in value. 

I don’t mind selling paintings and having people feel good about them because art not only has present value in terms of what it is and what it means, but it has future value as well - if you should sell it, trade it, or do whatever with it. 

But you’re right; a lot of us are just into bling.  It’s a way of trying to make up for a lack of confidence that comes from not knowing who you are, or what you are, and from not having any guidance on why you are here.  So we have kids trying to glean humanity from materialistic things, like tennis shoes and what they wear.  It’s a terrible situation.

dib:

Well, you did a piece depicting John H. Johnson, who made a success out of his life despite starting out with virtually nothing.

RT:

Mr. Johnson is probably my biggest hero.  I worked with him and worked for him for 18 years.  I gleaned wisdom from him on a daily basis, not just directly, but from how he conducted his business: his work ethic and the things he did to build and maintain a company for 60 years.  That’s incredible.  It’s Black owned to this day, and yet he didn’t get the recognition he deserved. 

When he died, he started to get some accolades, but when you consider the careers that he launched, there’s no excuse for all the Black celebrities that didn’t come to his funeral.  He helped launch their careers when there was no other platform for them, when there was no Internet or music videos.  He helped launched them with his publication and a lot of them failed to pay homage to him.  That hurt me personally.  That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to do his portrait.  He was a titan and a legend.  He also did a lot of things for me personally.  He was no nonsense and serious, but he respected me and what I did.

dib:

How did you end up working for him?

RT:

I graduated from the Art Institute in 1988.  That was the year there was controversy over a painting a student did that negatively depicted Harold Washington (then Mayor of Chicago, and the first African American elected to that office.)

The Black students at the time rallied around that point and used it to illustrate other things that were happening at the school that reflected a climate of racial intolerance.  At a meeting of students and faculty, called to discuss what was going on, Tony Jones, the president of the Art Institute, said something about Mr. Johnson not being able to get quality designers for Ebony Magazine.  I immediately stood up, right in the middle of the assembly, and said, “Excuse me, I’m a visual communications student. I’m graduating next week.” People applauded.  The next week, Tony Jones reviewed my portfolio and sent a letter of recommendation to Mr. Johnson. I met with Mr. Johnson and he hired me on the spot.  That was 18 years ago.

dib:

Great story.  Well, we’ve covered Mr. Johnson, Tubman, Parks, and Garvey. Over here, you have a whole series of painting of Muhammad Ali.  Tell me about this.

RT:

Well, basically the HEROES series is made up of people that I admire.  There’s nothing political about it.  These are just people who have impacted me.  Muhammad Ali.  Besides being a phenomenal boxer, the courage of his convictions was just profound to me.  He was willing to give up everything for what he believed, right or wrong.  He was right in his stance against the war in Vietnam. 

It’s so funny to me how he’s so beloved now; but if you go back and look at those fights, he was booed all the time.  I’m forty, so I remember those fights.  People hated Ali, both Black and White - hated Ali! 

I always loved him, always thought he was a phenomenal human being.  He’s had his humanness, just like we all do, but his stance for what he believed was phenomenal.  He became a beacon of hope to an entire world.  I really admire that.

Thomas suddenly turned 180 degrees and looked across his studio to a black and white poster of Ali mounted high on a brick wall that had been painted black.  The Ali poster was mounted above a black and white poster of Malcolm X.  The poster was a snap shot of Ali in the ring, the moment after he delivered a knockout punch.  In the poster, Ali’s face explodes with intensity. Just below the fighter’s hooked right glove span three words in big, bold, white letters: IMPOSSIBLE is NOTHING. Thomas continued.  

RT:

“Like this poster says, ‘Impossible is Nothing.’  The brother just epitomizes that mindset.

Continuing to comment on his HEREOS series, Thomas flowed seamlessly into a discussion of his painting of Stevie Wonder.

RT:

I’m like the biggest Stevie Wonder fan.  He’s one of my personal heroes.  For me, Stevie’s work is like a balm.  It just heals you.  It just makes your soul feel good, and that’s important.  There’s no way I could do a series about heroes without including him.

dib:

When did you do the painting of Huey?

RT:

I did Harriett Tubman first. Then I did Huey.

dib:

Did Harriet Tubman inspire you to paint Huey?

RT:

I don’t know.  It was really weird how these paintings came about.  The show consists of 20 paintings. 

I work on four or five paintings at a time.  I keep working on all of the paintings until they're finished. 

Harriett was first, and then I started working on Huey, then Gordon Parks. 

Parks was maybe the fourth painting I started, but it was one of the last ones finished.  I kept going back, doing things. 

That’s the way I work.  I go from one painting to another.  If I’m having a creative block, I just go to another piece, and keep moving. 

Whenever it’s done, it’s done.

dib:

Which painting do you find most satisfying?

RT:

I love them all.  The one I really like is the painting of Emmett Till, called SACRIFICE.  It’s a dual image of Emmett Till, one is ascending and the other is descending.  It depicts his spirit going up, and his spirit going down.  If no one buys that piece, I will be happy to add it to my own personal collection, but I love them all. 

People can be attracted to pieces for different reasons.  Someone might like Rosa Parks because of her stance, or someone might be a fan of Gordon Parks, like me.

dib:

Did you discover anything from doing the series that you didn’t expect?

RT:

There was one point when I had finished all of the paintings and had the majority of them here in the studio.  I was putting the varnish on them when I suddenly felt an emotional, spiritual kind of thing.  It felt like I was communing with the spirits of the people who are in my portraits. 

That’s what I wanted.  I wanted to evoke their spirits so that when you look at their eyes, or the colors in the paintings, you really feel something visceral, as oppose to having something that matches your couch. 

Creating this series was more than just painting and trying aesthetically to figure out what colors or technique would work.  It got to a point where I was feeling energy from the art and from the spirit of the people.

dib:

Do you often have that kind of experience with your work?

RT:

I do when I work on social or spiritual things, like with the SON OF MAN series. (In the SON OF MAN series, Thomas explored the nature and humanity of Jesus Christ.) 

In the HEROES series, it came from thinking about their struggles and listening to their speeches.  As I was working on their pieces, I listened to Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Huey Newton, and Fred Hampton.  They were saying things that people today would never consider uttering, because they are afraid, or maybe just comfortable. 

I had to look at myself, and I had to question myself. 

Just listen to Martin Luther King’s speech on why he opposed the Vietnam War.  It’s incredible and ties directly to what’s happening today.  When Malcolm talked about the bullet or the ballot, and the things that the government has done to blind the country, he was talking about the Vietnam War, but it is relevant today.  These brothers were young when they made these speeches, in their late thirties. 

I just turned 40, so I need to focus and think about why I am doing what I’m doing.  I’m not comfortable sitting around watching TV. 

I’ll watch a basketball or football game every now and then, a movie, something that’s provocative, but I’m usually about doing some work.

dib:

Why do your use words in your paintings?

RT:

I don’t necessarily use words in everything I do, but for this particular series, the urgency of type and the power of what type does, enhance the message.

I didn’t want the paintings to be posters.  I wanted them to work as paintings, but I also wanted the type to create immediacy in the paintings and reflect the energy of the people in the paintings, for example, Huey Newton and Power.  His coined phrase was “Power to the People.”  I wanted to use type to drive that home. 

Some of the words are obscured, you have to go up close and come back to see them. 

The biggest piece in the show is a piece depicting Martin Luther King.  It’s called, DR. KING: BIRMINGHAM.  It shows Dr. King in the Birmingham jail.  He’s looking out through the bars at an image of himself.  Within that, you have excerpts from the letter he wrote from a Birmingham prison.  You have to come up close to the painting to read it. I want people to have to interact with the painting. 

Take the Harriet Tubman piece.  The slave reward announcement, if you read it, you see they really go into some crazy details about finding this slave, whom I envision was freed by Tubman.  That’s why there’s the empty shackle there. 

The words cause you to interact with the person’s life.

dib: 

Who did you include in the Heroes series?

RT:

Let’s see, there’s Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Fredrick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Emmett Till, Mamie Till Mobley (Emmett’s mother), Rosa Parks, Fred Hampton, John Coltrane, Akhenaton (18^th Dynasty Pharaoh), Muhammad Ali, Gordon Parks, Marcus Garvey, Huey P. Newton, Stevie Wonder, and John Johnson.

dib:

How did Akhenaton get in there?

RT:

I’ve always been fascinated with Ancient Egypt, particularly the 18^th Dynasty.  Chicago now has the big King Tut exhibit, and Tut was Akhakotan’s son-in-law.  Look at Akhenaton.

RT:

Akhenaton was a brother.  Not only that, he was the first leader in known history to believe in monotheism.  He was the catalyst of that mindset of God, of one god; and he went against the established structure.  I thought that was just admirable - another example of courage to one’s convictions.  I view him as the original Black renaissance thinker.

dib: 

 So, what’s next for you?

RT:

Some rest!  I’ve been on it, art-wise.  Film-wise, I’m working on a script about the life and time of Donny Hathaway.  My company, N'Spire Entertainment, has optioned the life rights from his estate.  That’s really where I’m going to put most of my focus - writing a script with the hopes of getting it to a studio or independent production. 

The second thing is I’m a co-writer, along with Chris Benson and David Barr, on a script called DEATH OF INNOCENCE, which is based on a book by Mamie Till Mobley, Emmett Till’s mother.  It’s about their lives.  That’s going through the Hollywood circles now.  And finally, were still trying to get a feature film version of my film, TWELVE MINUTES.

As far as painting, I want to come back and do SON OF MAN - BOOK TWO.  I’m also working on some abstract paintings.

dib: 

You employ a lot of abstract aesthetics in your HEROES series, is there a different mind set you employ when it’s just an abstract painting?

RT:

My abstract pieces are jazz influenced.  I listen to a lot of jazz when I work; and the abstract pieces come very organically.  I don’t do any sketches, there’s no thought; it’s just me painting.  With my series work, I have a mind set about whom I want to do, kind of like a template, and once I get that set, then I use a variety of techniques.  It all happens organically. I enjoy using a technique of splatters; building layers with strokes and glazes; and building texture and then digging into that texture.  I love that kind of thing.

dib:

So, bottom line, what do you want people to walk away with after seeing HEROES?

RT:

It’s basically a series about people who have affected me.  I just thought that we don’t celebrate them enough, and I wanted to celebrate them in this type of medium.  Hopefully, people can glean some understanding about this medium, about fine art. 

I don’t think we, as Black people, appreciate fine art.  Back in the day, I think there was a little more appreciation of fine artists, although the world has never really appreciated us.  That’s always a battle for us, but I’ve never really concerned myself with that.  I just really want to educate my people about the beauty of collecting Black art, art made by people from their circumstance.

dib:

Well, thank you Raymond, for inviting diversityinbusiness.com to talk with you about your Heroes and your art.

RT:

Thank you.