IMPRINT: Dox Thrash, Black Life, and American Culture on view at AAMP through August 4

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- The African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP) is celebrating a Philadelphia artist and well-known printmaker, who also helped pioneer new techniques for the process.

The exhibition is called IMPRINT: Dox Thrash, Black Life, and American Culture.

"These offer snapshots into Dox Thrash's life," says Dejay B. Duckett, Vice President of Curatorial Services for the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

She says the exhibition's name refers to how Thrash's art "made an imprint on Philadelphia, and the nation."

He was born in Georgia in 1893, and came north as a teenager as part of the First Great Migration.

"He was so young and had the audacity to assert himself as an artist," says Duckett. "He started taking night classes at the Art Institute of Chicago."

He put his studies on hold during World War I.

"Fights in the war as a Buffalo Soldier, an all-Black regiment," she says. "And then he started traveling."

She says while traveling, he was part of Black vaudeville acts and these life experiences all had an influence on his work.

He settled in Philadelphia in 1926.

"And that's when he took up printmaking," says Duckett.

Almost 100 of his works are on view, mainly prints.

There are some aquatints and carborundum mezzotints.

Duckett says the process of carborundum mezzotint printmaking, "is something that he pioneered," while living here in Philadelphia.

"But we also have a few rarely seen watercolors and works on canvas that were done late in life," she says. "These pieces have a real Afro-futuristic quality to them."

There are several sections to explore, including portraiture, where visitors can see the piece called Standing Tall.

Still life, work life, musicality, as well as cityscapes and landscapes are also highlighted.

Duckett says Thrash is "a master of line and creating tonality in his work."

"And he created a visual diary," she says. "All parts of his personality found their way into his artwork."

Duckett says when visitors come to the museum, she hopes the exhibition offers a new perspective on Thrash's work.

IMPRINT: Dox Thrash, Black Life, and American Culture is on view through August 4.

IMPRINT: Dox Thrash, Black Life, and American Culture | Tickets
701 Arch Street Philadelphia, PA 19106
215-574-0380