"As years go by, I see my art as a celebration of Black lifestyles. I try to capture the richness of the culture --- the dance and music. I call it old spirit art, it represents a past, reflective of the African-American experience."
Leroy Campbell's newest series, "Black eye Peas," portrays a different view of Southern life than his previous work. Based on the life of a sharecropper, it is a painful yet noble study of the quiet strength and gripping tenacity of farmers in relentless pursuit of "a dream deferred."
The artist's work is characterized by his rich use of color and his mixing of media. Pastel, ink, acrylic, fabric, and charcoal are his favored materials. He has pursued his artistic vision for 10 years, seriously dedicating himself to creating art since 1984.
A self-taught artist, he is influenced by his birthplace, Monk's Corner, South Carolina. Campbell revisits the rural South in his "Neck bone" series, inhabited by Joe-Neck bone, Joe Neck bone, Jr., and Grandma Corrie. His subjects, proud, God-fearing, and self-reliant, are the backbone of the African-American community.
Campbell's "Love Dance" and "Moon Glow" sets are inspired by dance and jazz, respectively. In addition to having his work shown at Phillip Morris and the Chemical Bank in New York, the Brooklyn, New York, artist has created commissioned pieces for Bacardi Rum, Seagrams, and Honey Entertainment Records