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DAVID C. DRISKELL
(1931- )

David Driskell is an educator and painter living in Hyattsville, Mary-
land. A professor of art at the University of Maryland in College Park,
Driskell has chaired the art departments at Maryland and Fisk Univer-
sity. As an artist, he has received critical acclaim for his drawings, col-
lages, paintings and mixed media constructions. A recurrent theme
throughout the literature on his work, is the observation that his skill
as a colorist is particularly striking.

A key to understanding the sources of Driskell's creative vision
is an appreciation for his cultural and familial antecedents. He speaks
of having been brought up on a farm in Appalachia (western North
Carolina), where arts and crafts influenced by nature were a vital part of every
one's life-style. His paternal grandfather was a craftsman in the tradition of West
African artisans and so was his father, who made most of the furnishings in the
Driskell household. He vividly recalls the handsome baskets made by his mother in
rural North Carolina from bullrush which grew in every natural stream.

Born in Eatonton, Georgia, on June 7, 1931, Driskell received his under
graduate degree from Howard University in 1955 and his Master of Fine Arts
degree from the Catholic University in 1962. His most recent major
exhibition, entitled David Driskell: A Survey, was presented in the Art Gallery,
University of Maryland, in 1980.

"FESTIVAL, BAHIA" Gouache, 1985 22 X 30 inches

[image alt text: black and white copy of an abstract gouache painting, "Festival, Bahia."]