WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED
SHERRY LEEDY CONTEMPORARY ART
FEBRUARY
WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED
In these challenging times, “We Shall Not Be Moved” echoes the sentiments of the iconic Black American protest anthem rooted in Negro spirituals. I desired this exhibition to walk humbly in the footsteps of Maya Angelou, John Coltrane, Alvin Ailey, Faith Ringgold and countless others who have utilized artistic expression to speak Black creative truth to destructive systemic power. The staff of Sherry Leedy Contemporary Art and myself spent many hours perusing images and discussing ideas to select a carefully curated body of work that, like trees planted by the waters, is cultivated from my personal commitment to expressing that creative truth.
As Black narratives not in alignment with the current rewriting of American history are being removed from federal spaces under direct order of our current administration, I believe that it is of timely importance to fearlessly share these narratives in the spaces we still have left. In the words of famed actor Michael B. Jordan, “When they erase, we replace.”
Each work in this exhibition, from scenes derived from iconic Black films to reimagined Art in America magazine covers to paintings inspired by the many stray dogs in the urban neighborhood I grew up in and currently reside in, speak to the Black experience as I see it.
The Black experience is not monolithic and neither are the works in this exhibition. From the colorful to the monochromatic and from the fringes of abstraction to neo-expressionist figurativism, these works reflect Blackness as I have experienced it…like a tree planted by the waters of resilience, its roots absorbing courage and hope, its leaves capturing the warm rays of faith and love, and the branches of its undying trust in the dream of humanity and justice for all continually reaching towards the endless sky.
- Harold Smith
Visible Man - Man III
Acrylic on canvas, 2022, 48” x 60”
(We are the) Art in America: Saint Pookie Acrylic on canvas, 2024, 60” x 48”
(We are the) Art in America: Fat Meat is Greasy /Nobody is Coming to Save Us Acrylic
on canvas, 2024, 60” x 48
Man of Color - 26.03, 26.02, 26.01,
acrylic on canvas, 2025, 24” x 20”
Visible Man - Couple
Acrylic on canvas, 2023/2024, 48” x 60
The Many Dogs of 13th Street - (Clockwise from top left)
left) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Acrylic on canvas, 2025, 24” x 18”
The Many Dogs of 13th Street - (Clockwise from top left)
8, 9, 10, 11, 12, Acrylic on canvas, 2025, 24” x 18”
(We are the) Art in America: Black Shiny Things / Don’t Let Them Steal Your Joy Acrylic on canvas, 2024, 60” x 48”
Jazzstract: Coltrane
Acrylic on canvas, 2010, 60” x 48”
Man of Color - Man II
Acrylic on canvas, 2019, 60” x 48”
Rethinking: Rethinking Black Caesar
Acrylic on canvas, 2019, 48” x 60
Rethinking: Rethinking Bumpy (from Shaft, 1970)
Acrylic on canvas, 2019, 48” x 60”
Rethinking: He is a Complicated Man (from Shaft, 1970)
Acrylic on canvas, 2019, 48” x 60
Jazzstract: Primal Jazz X Acrylic on canvas, 2019, 60” x 48”
Jazzstract: A Blues for Clifford Brown Acrylic on canvas, 2009, 60” x 48”
Postmodern Pieta Acrylic on canvas, 2023, 60” x 48
Man of Color - (Clockwise from top left) 26.06, 26.07 26.08, 26.09,
26.10, 26.11,
26.09,
26.12, 26.13, acrylic on canvas, 2025, 10” x 8”
