YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – An exhibition of works by Danny Simmons, a founder of Neo-African Abstract Expressionism, will open Sunday, May 3, at The Butler Institute of American Art and run through July 26.

An opening reception will take place from 1-3 p.m. Sunday, with a gallery talk at 2 p.m. in the Segall Gallery. Admission is free.

Gary Lichtenstein, a renowned printmaker and abstract painter, made an edition of 30 silkscreen prints and a suite of original monoprints for the exhibition.

“Ever the storyteller, there is nothing random about the choices that Danny makes, and his history is woven into the fabric he selects for hand embellishment,” Lichtenstein said. “Danny’s work encourages exploration, and this entire exhibition of prints has given us tremendous opportunity for discovery.”

The printing process has “a magnetic pull” for an artist,” Simmons said. “The transition from a layered painting to a silkscreen print is a powerful evolution. The printing process acts as a mirror, with every layer of ink informing the original artistic decisions I made. Upon seeing the initial prints for my Butler Institute exhibition, my immediate instinct was to continue their story. By integrating textiles and fabric back onto the prints, I bridge the gap between original and reproduction, physically constructing my exploration of deep-seated themes of ancestry, memory and the diaspora.”

Through his use of dots, textiles and tribal markings, Simmons reclaims and recontextualizes traditional African motifs within the language of modernism.

For over four decades, the artist has created paintings, works on paper and assemblages informed by the spirit imbued in indigenous and African cultures. 

Simmons is an author, poet, philanthropist, curator, co-creator of Def Poetry Jam and co-founder of the renowned Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation. Through the nonprofit organization, Rush Arts Gallery NYC and Rush Arts Philadelphia have served as important cultural hubs providing exhibitions, arts education and opportunities for hundreds of emerging, developing and underrepresented artists of color since 1995.

Simmons is also a collector of contemporary art and African sculpture.

Pictured at top: Danny Simmons.