I Am the Glory

Abstract

I Am the Glory Stephen Towns (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Acrylic, oil, and metal leaf on panel. Courtesy of the Artist and De Buck Gallery. 48 × 36 in. 2020 This piece references Stephen Towns’s two art practices—quilting and painting. The title is a play on the term “Old Glory,” used to reference the American flag. The figure in the painting represents the creativity and ingenuity of formerly enslaved Black Americans. This painting is part of the exhibition Stephen Towns: Declaration & Resistance, which examines the American dream through the lives of Black Americans from the late 18th century to the present time. Using labor as a backdrop, Towns highlights the role African Americans have played in shaping the economy, and explores their resilience, resistance, and endurance, which have challenged the United States to truly embrace the tenets of its Declaration of Independence. This exhibition is on display at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art in Greensburg, PA through May 8th, 2022. Learn more about Volume 15’s Featured Artist at HopkinsReview.com [End Page 1] Stephen Towns stephen towns was born in 1980 in Lincolnville, South Carolina and lives and works in Baltimore. He trained as a painter with a bfa in studio art from the University of South Carolina and has also developed a rigorous, self-taught quilting practice. In 2018, the Baltimore Museum of Art presented his first museum exhibition, Stephen Towns: Rumination and a Reckoning. Copyright © 2022 Stephen Towns