Through Color

Alma Thomas was a junior high school teacher who worked for over thirty five years and
retired at the age of 69 to pursue her art career later in life. Although largely unrecognized even
at the time of her death in 1978, her works are currently being viewed in the Studio Museum in
Harlem, New York. Her paintings were of the abstract only, which was discouraged of African
Americans, women especially, who were expected to use their art to address social issues relating
to their race and gender. She stated that she purposefully focused on color and expression to
portray beauty and happiness. The style of her Abstract Expressionism is distinct to her, typically
a mosaic-like arrangement of acrylic color. The recent interest in Thomass work and the work of
others like her may draw from the style these painters acquired in their time spent in Washington
D.C., a fertile ground for those interesting in abstraction. Though the subjects of her paintings
were difficult to decipher, the titles of some shed light on what she may have been thinking of
and inspired by at the time, particularly relating to the excitement surrounding the exploration of
space. The long streaks of color were her imagining of what it would be like inside an aircraft
looking down at the landscape blurred from the speed of travel.
It is interesting to see a greater appreciation of an artist after their death, especially one
who did not conform to the expectations of their race, gender, or age. Though there is always a
place for artwork that depicts subjects of marginalization in any of these areas, I feel there is a
freedom an artist can only achieve if they strive to simply make good art without pressure to
validate themselves as a member of their marginalized group.
Kalina, R. (2016, May). Through color. Art in America, May 2016, 118-127.