Clark Atlanta University Spring '26 Exhibition

A Georgia native born in 1944, Freddie Styles remembers the racial divide of the Jim Crow South, when poverty and racial inequality defined his early life. His experiences working and being in nature fueled his artistic creativity, and his passion for gardening now serves as inspiration for his paintings.

Styles's abstract works conjure impressions of organic vegetation and the natural environment.

His unique process of layering crinkled fax paper and metallic inks creates texture, depth, and luminosity in his abstract landscapes.

For six decades, Styles has been engaged in the visual arts as both an abstract artist and art curator. His works have been shown in solo and group exhibitions and are held in numerous private and public collections, including those of the National Gallery of Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C.

The Clark Atlanta University Art Museum has been collecting African American art and art of the African Diaspora since the Atlanta University Art Annuals competition began in 1942. Since then, the collection has continued to evolve and grow, it has become a representation of a comprehensive African American art history. As the museum continues to develop exhibitions, the permanent collection will remain the priority. Rediscovery emphasizes the importance and relevance of the collection within the American art historical narrative. It also acknowledges that the permanent collection has never been seen in its entirety but will exhibit works that have remained unseen or exhibited in recent years, new acquisitions, undergone conservation, pieces that travel. This exhibition includes works by Samella Sanders Lewis, Henri Linton, Radcliffe Bailey, John Rhoden, and John Woodrow Wilson among others.

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Host or Publisher Clark Atlanta University Art Museum