GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Artist Lowell Reynolds says whenever he moves the brush, he's chasing one particular phrase, "what if?"
"When I get out of the way and I allow 'what if?' to come out of my mind, down my arm, through the brush, and just get out of the way and see what happens, a great deal of the time, what you see on canvas was not the intent," he said.
His paintings are not typically recreations of reality. He says a lot of his work is made up of interpretations of what's in his head.
"What I want to do is provoke a thought, an emotion," he said.
Around 30 works of art by Lowell and his nephew, Stephen Reynolds, are provoking thought in the Muse GR Gallery at the corner of Leonard Street and McReynolds Avenue on the northwest side of Grand Rapids.
"These pieces are pretty much embodying the beauty and prominence of African American culture. They wanted to offer a different narrative," said Stephen Smith who owns Muse GR.
"It’s not often that people look at Black people and say 'Oh my God this is such a beautiful people.' But we are beautiful people."
Muse GR opened more than two years ago, replacing an old adult book store that had been called an eye sore for years.
"Art often allows people to have conversations that wouldn’t necessarily happen, and a lot of times Black people are marginalized, so having artists paint pictures that allow people to see us as we truly are in our state, it should open some eyes and start some new conversations," Smith said.
Those new conversations come as issues of racial inequality have been in the spotlight across the country.
"We are saddened and sorrowed by all the things that are going on right now but we also want to show that we have pride in who we are," Smith said.
Reynolds, who paints for ARTXCHANGEGR, wanted to make a statement about the social situations going on right now, and to educate people through art.
"We’re not telling you what to like about art," he said. "We wanted to offer a message of different perspective to see African Americans."
Muse GR is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 4 to 7 p.m. and the Black Art Matters show will continue through August 29.
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