Sam Gilliam's Black Paintings, developed in the mid-1970s, signify a critical phase in his artistic evolution, marked by a deep engagement with form, color, and materiality. During this period, Gilliam began to incorporate geometric motifs over a dense ensemble of colors, particularly focusing on dark black hues, which was a departure from his earlier work that often featured vibrant, saturated colors (TheCollector).
The Black Paintings emerged as a continuation of Gilliam's innovative approaches to painting, specifically following his renowned Drape paintings series. By 1977, Gilliam had shifted his focus towards creating these collaged works, which combined the gestural dynamism of Action Painting with the compositional rigor of Color Field Painting. This series was characterized by the application of paint in thick, indefinite layers, where geometric shapes such as line segments, circles, and rectangles traversed the canvases, intersecting with the textured layers of black acrylic paint (TheCollector).
These works are notable for their exploration of texture and depth, employing everyday tools like shag rug rakes to introduce linearity and relief, thus creating a complex interplay of light and shadow across their surfaces. In pieces like "Double River" (1976), Gilliam experimented with applying strips of painted canvas onto the primary canvas, creating layers that disrupt and camouflage, adding to the work's graphic and physical resonance. This method reflected Gilliam's enduring interest in the physical and sculptural possibilities of painting, as he continued to challenge conventional flatness and explore the spatial dynamics between the artwork and its environment (David Kordansky Gallery).
Gilliam's work during this period was not only a formal exploration but also carried political undertones. As a prominent African American artist, his participation in abstract art during the Civil Rights Movement was seen by some as politically inert. However, Gilliam maintained the belief in abstract painting as a potent tool for social change, asserting that art's ambiguity and difference could challenge and broaden perspectives. This belief underpinned his work, including the Black Paintings, which can be read as a sophisticated blend of formal innovation and subtle political commentary (TheCollector) (Smithsonian American Art Museum).
Sam Gilliam's Black Paintings represent a crucial moment in his career, bridging his earlier experiments with color and form with a deeper investigation into texture, structure, and the potential for abstraction to convey complex emotional and political content. Through these works, Gilliam continued to redefine the boundaries of painting, cementing his legacy as an innovator in the field of abstract art.