Independent 20th Century / Winfred Rembert
September 7 - 10, 2023
Cipriani South Street
New York, NY
Read the full press release
James Barron Art is proud to exhibit a selection of paintings by self-taught artist Winfred Rembert. Rembert’s tooled-leather paintings portray scenes from his childhood in rural Georgia and his young adulthood spent on a prison chain gang. Rembert’s colorful, textured surfaces create a vibrant stage for him to share his story and the legacy of the Jim Crow south. In addition to his work as a painter, Rembert wrote his life story in Chasing Me to My Grave: An Artist’s Memoir of the Jim Crow South (Bloomsbury, 2021) in collaboration with Erin I. Kelly, for which he was posthumously awarded the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography.
Rembert’s powerful compositions chronicle his experience as a Black man during one of the most historically significant eras of the 20th century. Rembert’s paintings are remarkable not only for the stories they tell, but also for their sophisticated compositions. His work stands as a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit and the power of artistic expression.
"The standout display is nestled in the corner of the second room at James Barron Art’s presentation of work by Winfred Rembert, whose biographical paintings on tooled leather panels evoke a seemingly endless store of personal memories.”
Elaine Velie
A Focus on Biography at Independent 20th Century
"The real knock-out booth was James Barron Art’s presentation of leather paintings by self-taught artist Winfred Rembert. Rembert’s skillful mastery of tooling leather came from the five years he spent incarcerated in Cuthbert, Georgia... The resulting imagery is both jocund and heartbreaking, depicting nights out at jazz clubs or afternoons on the playground, but also touching on the more painful aspects of his past, picking cotton and serving on a chain gang.”
Annie Armstrong
At Independent 20th Century, a Rewarding Roster of Self-Taught Artists Share the Spotlight With a Conceptual Coffee Klatch
"Winfred Rembert’s tooled-leather 'paintings' command whatever space they inhabit... The self-taught artist had a remarkable eye for color and pattern, and a lingering sorrow that sustains in the work’s quiet intensity."
Tessa Solomon
Art History Gets (Another) Rewrite at the Second-Ever Independent 20th Century
"Self-taught artist Winfred Rembert’s (1945-2021) paintings on leather... provoke a similar reaction of wonder... The leatherwork is so fine that viewers can see the individual stitches carved into the clothing of Rembert’s subjects."
Elena Goukassian
Finding humour in New York's Independent 20th Century fair
"Equal parts miraculous and heartbreaking is a fantastic selection of works by Winfred Rembert."
Andrew Huff
Top 5 Presentations at Independent 20th Century 2023
"The Independent 20th Century art fair... offers as dense a selection of top-shelf art as you’ll find this week. There are Warhol portraits and Picasso drawings, sure. But there are also tooled and dyed leather 'paintings' by Winfred Rembert."
Will Heinrich
An Expansive Art History at the Independent Art Fair
