Over 30 years and counting, Charly Palmer’s art has been speaking for itself.
Literally, Palmer's paintbrush is as a Griot.
In every painting, he bears witness of African ancestry and contemporary experiences — rhythmic, visual stories that shifts what each viewer believes to see — should one dare to look deeply.
Palmer has an innate awareness of documenting the intricacies of Blackness with such depth, patterns, symbols, and textures that it is easy to forget that he begins with a blank canvas. The ways in which he applies acrylic is somewhat its own aesthetic that transcends where one’s thought begins and ends.
As a Fine Artist who paints upwards of 50 paintings a year, Palmer’s heart’s desire? To be used as a vessel and expression of something higher than himself.
Follow the instructions of the ancestors and you will see greatness happen; there’s intrinsic beauty and strength of Blackness in each body of work.
Much of Palmer’s messaging is in the eyes of his people, as if conversing with one another. Conversing with you.
From loose sketches and tight lines to blocks of color to nuances of mixed media, his art manifests in visual expressions to the questions, “What came before? What truth must be told?”
