Gee Horton

Artist Statement:

Gee Horton is a Cincinnati-based self-trained Hyperrealist visual artist who has recently transitioned from his corporate 9 to 5 job to focus primarily on making art and building communities. Using graphite and charcoal pencils, Gee’s drawings capture a heightened sense of realism, but it is important to note that the Hyperrealist style is only one facet of comprehending his work. Having earned a master’s in social work from the University of Louisville, he often incorporates his education and life experiences into his art to achieve a kind of power that for many triggers’ emotional associations. With this in mind, his current work makes a connection between his African roots and their juxtaposition to American attitudes on the social and emotional development of the African American male experience.

Gee is currently working on a series of work entitled, “Coming of Age”. In collaboration with photographer Jason Carter, the series is autobiographical and offers a complex multilayered conversation about black-male adolescence and their search for identity, acceptance, purpose, and love. His nephew from Louisville acts as the series muse, portraying Horton’s younger self.

The work of art entitled, “If I ruled the world…” attempts to capture an intimate and rare moment within this boy’s adolescence where he discovers a sense of self-assurance and pure confidence. His striking pose unapologetically represents this new found confidence which prompts the thought-provoking idea of, “If I ruled the world…” – a rather far-fetched idea as it relates to his poverty-stricken reality and unfortunate circumstances. However, the boy isn’t afraid to dream and explore the idea, an idea which later changed his life!

Bio:

Gee Horton is a Cincinnati-based self-trained Hyperrealist visual artist who has recently transitioned from his corporate 9 to 5 job to focus primarily on making art and building communities. Using graphite and charcoal pencils, Gee’s drawings capture a heightened sense of realism, but it is important to note that the Hyperrealist style is only one facet of comprehending his work. Having earned a master’s in social work from the University of Louisville, he often incorporates his education and life experiences into his art to achieve a kind of power that for many triggers’ emotional associations. With this in mind, his current work makes a connection between his African roots and their juxtaposition to American attitudes on the social and emotional development of the African American male experience.

Gee is currently working on a series of work entitled, “Coming of Age”. In collaboration with photographer Jason Carter, the series is autobiographical and offers a complex multilayered conversation about black-male adolescence and their search for identity, acceptance, purpose, and love. Gee is currently selling hand selected pieces from this selection as well as other works on his website. Expect to see this prolific collection “Coming of Age” to debut in 2021, which will be his first gallery showing to the Cincinnati community.

Gee has been drawing for the last three years and has been featured in local art exhibits and media publications. He is currently serving as the Mercantile Library’s first African American Artist-in-Residence. He has been commissioned to draw a 6ft portrait of Peter H. Clark, the Mercantile Library’s first African American member. Gee played a major role in the Black Art Speaks collective to paint the Black Lives Matter! mural in front of Cincinnati’s City Hall. His contribution in the Black Lives Matter mural is the “L” in “Lives”, using text from the renowned African American poet Langston Hughes’ 1926 poem, “I, Too”. Gee currently serves on the Board of Trustees for Artworks, WavePool, and is a Co-Host of the Urban Consulate Cincinnati Chapter. You can also find some of Gee’s artwork at BlaCk Coffee Lounge, located downtown Cincinnati at 824 Elm Street.

geehorton.com