Richmond’s Antonio McAfee, who has been featured in national and regional publications, combines personal photos and abstract colorful patterns into art.
McAfee’s “5 Days” exhibit is displayed at Richmond Art Museum through March 29.
Admission is free to the galleries, which are open from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays at 350 Hub Etchison Parkway, Richmond.
RAM officials note the unique exhibition of new works includes wall surface prints and Lightbox presentations in a dim gallery.
Nearly 1,200 Richmond High School students have visited the exhibition as part of the museum’s education programs.
In addition to viewing McAfee’s photography, they are learning about the process by doing acrylic medium transfers with exhibit images, historic images from the Library of Congress, and images of Richmond and Wayne County to create a community artwork.
About the exhibit
McAfee addresses the complexity of representation. His work reflects masculinity and male figures in his family, including his father, son, biological grandfather, step-grandfather, and his own transition into patriarch.
McAfee’s exhibit shows resolve and loss within generations through a layering of personal photographs that he and his grandfather took, historical photos he found, and abstract colorful patterns from personal artifacts.
The Earlham College professor also draws attention to significant historic figures such as politicians Hiram Revels and Robert Smalls from the Reconstruction era. They were among the first elected African American officials.
He earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in photography from Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C., and the University of Pennsylvania. Both schools have included his art in catalogs they’ve published. He also received a post-graduate diploma in arts and culture management from University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa).
McAfee has been featured in The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, Baltimore Magazine, BmoreArt Magazine, Washington City Paper and Mission on Tenth published by California Institute of Integrated Studies.
He’s participated in several residencies around the nation and in Spain. Grants have come from sources including Foundation for Contemporary Art in New York, Art on the Vine in Washington, D.C., Maryland State Arts Council, Civil Society Institute, Fulbright IIE and Dedalus Foundation.
His work has been exhibited at museums and galleries in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Pennsylvania.
A version of this article appeared in the March 12 2025 print edition of the Western Wayne News.