Norman Lewis: A Complex Conversation

African American artist Norman Lewis (1909–79) was known to be a complex conversant in command of many verbal and visual idioms. His art reveals an interest in inter- and intrapersonal interactions. Lewis studied how people conversed, the way individuals operated in groups, and the movement of crowds. His work compels viewers to look carefully at other people and themselves. How do we interact with others and what happens during those exchanges? His interest in human interaction on the micro and macro scales has not yet received in-depth analysis. When for many abstract expressionists the individual and individual experience was paramount, Lewis was concerned with the community and the communal. He desired to communicate with the viewer and persistently sought to configure the most fitting visual language for the job. His language and approach to visual communication took from the many vernaculars he used.