Steven S. Powers will exhibit a selection of works by celebrated African American sculptor, James W. Washington, Jr. (1909-2000) at The Metro Show, New York, NY, January 23-27, 2013.

The son of an African American Baptist minister who was run out of town by the Ku Klux Klan and never to be seen again, and a deeply religious and supportive mother, James W. Washington, Jr. knew from an early age that he had something unique within him-that his abilities and imagination would manifest and take him away from the segregated and oppressive environs of Gloster, Mississippi.

Washington's spirited, but quiet carvings can be seen as a cross between two other direct carvers; the African American Folk Artist William Edmondson (1874-1951) and American sculptor John Flannagan (1895-1942). Washington and Edmondson thought the hand of God drove their work, and both Flannagan and Washington knew that direct carving ensured vitality to the final carving. He took right to the chisel-life starts with a spark-like a hammer's first blow against granite!

In 1989 the Bellevue Art Museum held a major retrospective entitled, "The Spirit in the Stone: The Visionary Art of James W. Washington, Jr." In 2008 for the inaugural exhibition of the Northwest African American Museum, Washington was honored along with Jacob Lawrence in "Making a Life, Creating a World: Jacob Lawrence and James W. Washington, Jr." James W. Washington, Jr.'s work is represented in numerous private and public collections, including The Smithsonian, The Whitney, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Seattle Art Museum.

The Metro Show is an art fair held during New York's Americana Week and is open to the public on Thursday, January 24 through Sunday, January 27. An opening night preview is scheduled for Wednesday, January 23. Additional show information at metroshownyc.com.

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