Maurice Evans

"An artist who paints Jazz Music. His name is Maurice Evans."

In very little time, Maurice Evans has proved himself to be one of the best in the field of Black Art. Hundreds of African American Art collectors are entranced with his work. Music is an obvious inspiration to him, and his series of paintings entitled, "The Colour of Jazz", although modern, still reminds us of an era where jazz was at it's height in African American Culture. Whether his creations are executed on paper, wood or canvas - the texture, intense colors, strong emotion and unusual, exaggerated perspectives, are what make a Maurice Evans painting unique.

African American Artist Maurice Evans was born in the small town of Smyrna, Tennessee, on the now now-existent Sewart Air Force Base. He is the only child of Roy L. Evans, a retired Air Force Sergeant, and musician. His mother, Susie M. Evans, is an elementary school teacher and writer. Recognizing his talents at a very tender age, his parents, teachers, and peers immediately encouraged his interest in art. At fourteen, Maurice landed his first professional art job as a freelance artist for a commercial art firm in Griffin, Georgia.

Maurice was later given a scholarship to attend the Art Institute of Atlanta. During his first year, Maurice discovered that commercial art, unlike painting Black Art, was too restricting - not always allowing the artist enough freedom to express his creative side. This prompted his switch to fashion illustration, which would later prove to be a pivotal point in this young  black artist's career. Much like in African Art, elongation of the human figure, movement, and exaggeration are heavily used in fashion illustration to give clothing design a grandiose feeling. This distortion of the human body soon became a major part of his African American artistic style. Recognizing Maurice's talent, Patrick Kelly, a top fashion designer offered to help in his career and encouraged the young artist to move to New York. Unfortunately, this move was halted due to Kelly's untimely death. Months later Maurice graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with honors and Best of Class awards, with an Associates Degree in Fashion Illustration.

Because of the dying market of fashion illustration, the next few years would prove to be a testing period. Lack of confidence would prevent him from moving to New York or Los Angeles, which was the most natural move for most African American artists. The Atlanta market would force Maurice back into commercial art and then later, medical illustration. Having been able to venture into a variety of art fields proved to be interesting, but stressful, and left his passion for self-expression still unfulfilled.

An encounter with ex-classmate, Grace Kisa, would prove to be a much needed turning point in Maurice's career. Grace encouraged Maurice to try his hand in the Fine Black Art field by seeking employment with a fine art distribution company for whom she worked. The job proved to be very challenging, forcing him to dig deeper as an African American artist than he had ever done before. For the next three years, the exposure to a variety of artists with their diverse artistic backgrounds, proved to be one of the best experiences for Maurice. The presence of accomplished artists with their own artistic identity caused Maurice to ask himself, "What do I have to offer as an artist that is unique?" This led him to take old and new painting techniques and infuse them with his fashion background to make his artistic interpretation unique and Afrocentric.

At the end of his term with this company, Maurice had grown as much as he could creatively within the parameters that were set by his employers. The restrictions placed on him limited his use of color as well as limit concerning subject matter, to name a few. He then tried working for another distributor only to be faced with the same restrictions. This led to his solo climb to the top!

He was then commissioned by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs for the Official 1994, Atlanta Jazz Festival poster. Soon afterwards, his debut at the 1994 National Black Arts Festival caused an unquestionable sensation...a star was born!