McArthur Binion facts for kids

McArthur Binion (born in 1946) is an American artist who lives and works in Chicago, Illinois. He is known for his unique style of abstract painting.

Binion was born in Macon, Mississippi. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, in 1971. Later, he received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree from the Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1973. For many years, from 1993 to 2015, he was also a professor of art at Columbia College in Chicago.

Early Life and Education

McArthur Binion was born on September 1, 1946, on a cotton farm in Macon, Mississippi. He was one of eleven children in his family. From a young age, Binion has had a stutter.

In 1951, when he was five years old, his family moved to Detroit. His father found a job in the car-making industry there. Binion went to Mumford High School and graduated in 1964.

After high school, Binion first studied business at Morgan State University. He then moved to Wayne State University to study creative writing. At 19, he left college for a while to work for a magazine in Harlem, New York. This was where he first saw paintings by famous artists like Jasper Johns at the Museum of Modern Art. This experience inspired him. A couple of years later, he took his first drawing class while traveling in Europe.

Binion returned to college and earned his BFA from Wayne State in 1971. In 1973, he got his MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art, becoming the first Black student to earn that degree in painting from the school.

Artistic Career

Moving to New York

After graduating in 1973, Binion moved to New York City. The city was a busy center for artists, and he became friends with many famous artists of that time, including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Sol LeWitt, and Martin Puryear.

That same year, his work was chosen for a group show at Artists Space, a famous gallery. This was a big step in his career. Over the years, his paintings have been shown in major museums like the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, the Studio Museum in Harlem, and the Detroit Institute of Art.

Chicago and Growing Recognition

In 1991, Binion moved to Chicago and started teaching at Columbia College in 1993. Even though he was always creating art, he didn't show his work very often during this time.

Things changed in 2013 when a Chicago art dealer named Kavi Gupta started representing him. This brought more attention to his art. In 2017, his work was featured in the famous Venice Biennale, an international art exhibition in Italy. His paintings from his DNA series were highly praised.

In 2019, The New York Times wrote a front-page article about him and other African-American artists. The article noted that after many years, these talented artists were finally getting the recognition they deserved.

Binion's Unique Art Style

dna:study (2020) by McArthur Binion, on display at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2023.

McArthur Binion is known for his abstract paintings, which often look simple and organized, a style known as minimalism. He uses materials like crayons, oil sticks, and ink on hard surfaces like wood or aluminum.

A key part of his work is using laser-printed copies of personal documents as a background layer. On top of this, he adds layers of paint. Binion says his art is about making something that is truly his own. His work has been compared to other famous artists like Robert Ryman and Jasper Johns.

Binion calls himself a "Rural Modernist." He says his art is inspired by a mix of Bebop jazz music and Abstract Expressionism. He is also influenced by modern artists like Kazimir Malevich and Piet Mondrian.

The DNA Series

In his recent work, like the DNA Study series, Binion's paintings are not just abstract shapes. They also tell a story about his personal history and experiences as a Black man.

For these paintings, he uses copies of his old phone books, his passport photo, and his birth certificate as the first layer. Then, he draws a grid over them with black, white, and sometimes colorful oil paint sticks. This combines his personal life with his abstract art style.

Personal Life and Foundation

From 1978 to 1980, Binion was in a relationship with playwright Ntozake Shange. They had a daughter named Savannah Shange-Binion, who is now a professor. Binion was later married to Carla Jean Mayer, and they had two children together. They are now divorced.

In 2019, Binion started the Modern Ancient Brown foundation in Detroit. The foundation helps artists and writers of color by giving them money and a place to live and work.

Selected Exhibitions

Binion's work has been shown in galleries and museums all over the world. Some of his important exhibitions include:

• 2025: Rawness Dancing:With Intellect, Xavier Hufkens, Brussels, Belgium
• 2019: Ghost: Rhythms & Haints, Mississippi Museum of Art, Jackson, MS
• 2018: Binion/Saarinen: The McArthur Binion Project, Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, MI
• 2017: VIVA ARTE VIVA, 57th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
• 2012: Perspectives 177: McArthur Binion, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Houston, TX

Gallery Representation

McArthur Binion is represented by several major art galleries, including Lehmann Maupin in New York, Hong Kong, and Seoul; Massimo De Carlo in Milan, London, and Hong Kong; Xavier Hufkens in Brussels; and Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago.