The Original Art Show
The Original Art Show will feature international and emerging artist. This collection features Paul Goodnight, Larry Poncho Brown, Joyce Jeffrey, Larry Pierce, Priscilla A. Phifer, and Marcel Stewart. The show kicks off opening weekend October 23 - 24, 2020. In-person preview is available by appointment. Collectors are welcome to schedule their preview using the links below.Opening Reception
Friday, October 23, 2020 | 4:00 pm - 9:00 pmShow Opening
Saturday, October 24, 2020 | 1:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Show on display until November 24, 2020
6 Guest permitted every half hour
The showroom gallery is located in the Crossroads Building at
16250 Northland Drive - Suite 102, Southfield, Michigan.
(248)773-9008
To adhere to safety precautions registration is required.
PAUL GOODNIGHT
Artist Paul Goodnight was born in Chicago on December 31, 1946. At a young age, his mother took him to New London, Connecticut, and later to Boston, where a foster family raised him. After finishing high school, Goodnight was drafted into the Army, and served two years in Vietnam. The experience changed him and upon his return, he was unable to speak because of the horrors he witnessed there. Soon after, Goodnight began to paint, reverting to the means of expression he had employed as a child.
Finding release in his art, Goodnight regained his voice and enrolled in the Vesper George School of Art, taking English classes at a nearby community college to help him along the way. In 1976, he earned his B.A. from the Massachusetts College of Art. Goodnight continued to create, and in 1984 one of his works was displayed on an episode of The Cosby Show. Since then, his works have been featured in such programs as Seinfeld, ER and Living Single. Goodnight then began traveling the world, studying the art of the Caribbean, Africa, Russia and Asia, as well as working under contemporary masters such as Alan Crite and John Biggers.
In 1991, Goodnight founded Color Circle Art Publishing, which is dedicated to the perpetuation of the art and imagery of the African diaspora. His works adorn the homes of such notables as Maya Angelou, Wesley Snipes and Samuel L. Jackson, as well as the halls of the Smithsonian Institute. In 1996, Goodnight was commissioned to create a piece for the 1996 Olympic Games, and in 1998, he designed the World Cup poster. He was awarded the U.S. Sports Academy Artist of the Year Award in 1997. Goodnight's biggest inspiration is his daughter, Aziza.
Larry Poncho Brown
Larry “Poncho” Brown, is a native of Baltimore, MD. He started his first business at the age of 17 as a signwriter and he has been a full time artist ever since. Poncho received his Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in graphic design and photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD. His art, both fine and commercial, has been published nationally in Upscale, Ebony, Ebony Man, Essence, and Jet magazines. His art is featured in the UCLA Fowler Museum of Cultural History book entitled “Wrapped In Pride” and “Connecting People With Art”. His popular works have been prominently featured on several TV shows including “A Different World”, “In The House”, “The Wire”, “The Carmichael Show”, “Star”, and “Greenleaf”. Movies featuring his art include “Avalon”, “He Said, She Said”, and “Soulfood”. His work adorns the walls of the likes of Camille Cosby, Dick Gregory, Anita Baker, Susan Taylor, Ed Gordon and Bernard Bronner just to name a few. His original works are in the corporate and institutional collections of Coppin State University, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the District of Columbia Superior Courts, the Children’s Hospital of Richmond at Virginia Commonwealth University, Howard University Hospital, and Yale New Haven Health Park Avenue Medical Center.
His earlier works were predominately airbrush illustrations. He evolved from a graffiti artist in his earlier years, to a classically trained sign painter and graphic artist. Poncho’s early published works in the mid 80’s like his “Black is Black” Series was the first to address the subject of colorism in the African American art realm. He was one of many artists often referenced as “The Popular Artists” who gained national recognition during “The Cosby Show” era, and found commercial success between 1985-2000 during a period known as “The Golden Age of African American Art”, by making their art accessible to the masses through direct participation in community art and cultural festivals, foregoing the traditional artist arrangement of artist representation, gallery representation, and art publisher distribution. At the height of this era his works were sold in 3000 galleries across the country, and on the walls of nearly 500,000 homes.
Admirers often site rhythm, movement, and unity, as favorite elements in his work. He primarily works in acrylic, although he uses a variety of mediums and styles to express his interests in Afrocentric themes, Ancient Egyptology and dance. Poncho’s unique style combines past and present art stylizations to create a sense of realism, mysticism, and beauty, which gives his art universal appeal. “My creations are a reflection of my personal values and pay homage to ongoing themes of unity, family, and spirituality”-Larry Poncho Brown
Joyce Jeffrey
Joyce Jeffrey is an emerging artist who started drawing at the age of five using cartoon books as references. Joyce progressed from contour drawing to adding life through shading and highlights. She developed a passion for portrait drawing and cultivated her skills throughout her youth until she became proficient.
Joyce continued to enhance her skills through formal education while in high school. In the eleventh grade, she enjoyed spending the second half of each school day at Okmulgee Tech where she studied commercial art for 1.5 trimesters.
After graduating from high school, Joyce attended the University of Oklahoma. There, she first got a glimpse of her ability to create and not just duplicate art. Joyce painted a mural in her dorm room and another mural about genocide for the Wazuri House, a cultural center where black students gathered for meetings and events. After participating in a prison outreach sponsored by the University, she created a water color painting depicting the experience. Although these accomplishments convinced her that she was an artist, she did not pursue an art career.
Born in Okmulgee, Oklahoma in 1953, Joyce moved to Detroit in 1986 for her second stint in the motor city, where a consistent focus on her art wouldn’t start until 30 years later. Joyce, who was a homemaker and stay-a-home mother for many years, drew portraits occasionally as a hobbyist. Art, however, always called and Joyce answered.
In 2003, Joyce returned to college and in 2006 earned a second degree, a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wayne State University. She also earned a Master of Arts in 2010 at Eastern Michigan University, where her master thesis exhibition, “Knot Bad,” was well-received. The master thesis consisted of a sculpture and a 16-piece black and white photo series, which celebrated black women’s natural hair. The master thesis project also was part of a one-day exhibition called “It’s All Good Hair” at Detroit’s Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History.
A hiatus was broken in 2016 when Joyce attended a weekly gathering of artists, curators, and collectors in Detroit known as the Breakfast Club. Its “electrifying atmosphere” propelled her to pursue art as an entrepreneur. As a result, Joyce has participated in several exhibits and began selling her work.
In November 2019, Joyce won first place (juried) in the first annual Emerge! Art Festival, hosted by the Hannan Center, for her painting named “Royal Legacy.” It also won the Emerge! People’s Choice Belle Isle award.
Joyce is a multi-disciplinary artist who explores cultural and spiritual life through her abstract paintings, sculpture, and photography. Her creative clarity is honed by relentlessly following her inner voice. Passionate and introspective, Joyce finds artistic inspiration all around her, especially in nature. She describes her primary creative process as “approaching the canvas in a subconscious way” where initial designs are examined for revelation and then completed.
Today, Joyce pours her whole heart into her art and looks forward to the creative journey ahead.
Marcel Stewart
Marcel Stewart is an abstract artist from Detroit, MI born in the early 1990s. Marcel loves to express himself by the use of the visual arts. He is a 2009 graduate of Detroit Community High School looking to pursue his professional art career while discovering his best artistic attribute(s). Although, he was offered a partial scholarship to attend the College of Creative Studies, he decided to accept an athletic scholarship to attend Schoolcraft College. Marcel’s passion ultimately led him back to a career in visual arts, but beyond creating fine art, Marcel is a loving husband, father, and mentor.
While growing from an adolescent to a young adult in a rather urban and dangerous area, Marcel searched for many ways to evolve. Although he excelled at many things such as basketball, academics, arts & crafts etc., he still didn’t know which route he wanted his life to go in. After many life-changing situations, Marcel began to use paint as a form of self-expression. This not only helped him with some of the unfulfillment he felt within himself, but his gift has also help bring joy into a number of homes.
Marcel is striving to change the mindset of individuals through art each day with the hope that it will change their outlook and perception of their own abilities. Once our mindsets change and evolve, a change in our behavior will follow.
Priscilla A. Phifer
Priscilla Phifer is a self-taught abstract expressionist artist, with the aid of several classes taken at the Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center and The Community House, both in Birmingham, MI, from 2014 to 2016. Since then, Priscilla has had three solo shows, her first of which was an unexpected sellout in 2015! It was then that she considered herself a professional artist. Her hobby soon became an “accidental” business. The Coronavirus prevented her from having her fourth solo in April 2020.
Group exhibits: Dell Pryor Gallery, Detroit; famed songwriter Allee Willis’ exhibit in Los Angeles; Blossoming Artists Gallery, Detroit; N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art, Detroit; NCA Michigan Gallery, Detroit; Charles Wright Museum of African American History; Detroit Public Library; Carr Center, Detroit; the NCA Invitational Exhibition at Rosenthal Gallery-Fayetteville State University and the Ellington White Contemporary Gallery, both in North Carolina; the Costick Center in Farmington Hills, Detroit Artists Market, Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center and other exhibits. Priscilla participated in her first international exhibit in Windsor, Ontario, Canada’s Artists of Colour “llumination” Exhibit, May 2019. She is often sought to donate her art to non-profits for their auction fundraisers.
Priscilla’s art was juried into the City of Farmington Hills’ two-year public art program from Jan 2017-19. Her art is in Mack Alive’s Ambassador Permanent art collection in Detroit, the first piece of art purchased for this collection. Her work can also be found in such places as the N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art in Detroit, the Franklin Grill Restaurant (Franklin, MI), and in many private collections from the West Coast to East Coast.
Priscilla has affiliated with the National Conference of Artists, the Pierians Detroit art group, Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club, Farmington Art Foundation, and has memberships in the Detroit Artist Market, Detroit Institute of Art and the Charles Wright Museum. Additionally, she has been a guest on Morning Toast Radio Show and the Brenda Perryman Show; has served on panels and forums, and has been interviewed by media outlets such as Rollingout.com and Reflctmedia.com. Phifer uses her community involvement to bring opportunities to other artists. She played an integral role in establishing the Torch of Wisdom Foundation/Detroit Fine Arts Breakfast Club’s first-ever art auction fundraiser in Sept 2018, which has become an annual event.
Larry Pierce
Born in The Bronx, NY on February 9, 1949, Laurence Pierce was the youngest of three children. In 1966, after graduation from the High School of Art and Design, he joined the Navy as a Photographer’s Mate and worked as a videographer for Armed Forces Radio and Television in Keflavik, Iceland and also aboard the U.S.S. Guam (LPH-9) as Ship’s Photographer.
In 1973 he began studies at the School of Visual Arts in NY, graduating in 1977 with a BFA degree. After graduation he began a 20 year career in advertising design and illustration. He met his future wife, Velma Johnson while working as an art director for the Mingo Jones Advertising Agency. They moved to her home town of Boston, MA in 1990.
In Boston he joined several arts groups and participated in several solo and group shows in New England and New York.
His group exhibits include: Leslie Univ. (2005) The Gallery at the Piano Factory 2005, 2007 and 2015 (with Paul Goodnight). The Edward Kennedy Institute (2018) The Massachusetts State House (2012) The Mayor’s Gallery (2014), Boston, MA.
His solo exhibits include: TJX Corporate Headquarters Framingham, MA (2004), The Eric Jean Ctr. For the Arts (2011) Northeastern University Black Students Center (2016, 2017, 2018), Susie Smith Gallery (2017) The Piano Factory (2018) The World Trade Ctr, Boston, MA (2011) the Great Hall Gallery, Boston, MA (2011)
He continues to conduct art workshops for Seniors in and around Boston, and wrote the curriculum for the children’s Arts for Life program at the Dimock Center in Boston, MA.
