Charly "Carlos" Palmer

Charly "Carlos" Palmer (currently known as Charly Palmer) (born June 29, 1960) is an American fine artist. Palmer's subjects have included landscapes and portraits. Primarily an acrylic painter, Palmer also works in a variety of media.

Charly Palmer
Charly Palmer in 2022
Born
Charly Carlos Palmer

(1960-06-29) June 29, 1960 (age 64)
Education
Known forIllustration, graphic design, fine art
Notable workCover art for John Legend's Bigger Love
Time magazine cover
Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song
Awards2018 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award
Websitewww.charlypalmer.com

Career

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Palmer created the 1996 Olympic Poster, and again in 1998 the US Olympic Committee honored Palmer by selecting him to paint the US Olympic Poster for the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.[1] He has mentored several artists, including Tamara Natalie Madden.

He has exhibited at the African American Museum of Southern New Jersey,[2][3] Just Lookin' Gallery,[4][5] Spence Gallery, and in many other museums and galleries throughout the country.

Following his mother's death in 2008, Palmer began frequently including flowers in his imagery.[6]

Palmer was the 2018 recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Illustrator Award for the book Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song, written by Kathryn Erskine.[7]

Since then, Palmer has illustrated for children's books such as The Teachers March! How Selma's Teachers Changed History by Sandra Wallace, My Rainy Day Rocket Ship by Markette Sheppard, There's a Dragon in My Closet by Dorothea Taylor, and I Can Write the World by Joshunda Sanders.[8][9][10][11] He has also done the cover art for the books The Sociology of W. E. B. Du Bois: Racialized Modernity and the Global Color Line by Karida L. Brown and Jose Itzigsohn, Gone Home: Race and Roots Through Appalachia by Karida L. Brown, and All Boys Aren't Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson. Charly also co-authored The New Brownies Book: A Love Letter To Black Families which recently won the 2024 NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Literary Work – Non-Fiction.[12][13]

Palmer spoke at UCLA in November 2019 as one of the Regents Lecturers for the African American Studies Department about artists impacts on protests.[14]

In 2020, Palmer illustrated the cover art work for John Legend's studio album Bigger Love.[15]

As a part of the Black Lives Matter movement, Palmer was selected to do the July 2020 cover for the acclaimed Time magazine for the "America Must Change" issue.[6] Several other illustrations were included in the issue, including portraits of George Stinney and James Baldwin paired with American iconography.[6] The paintings were received as both beautiful and mournful.[16] Palmer was chosen to work on the cover based on his 20 years of experience painting on the subject of race.[17] Also in relation to BLM, Palmer's piece "Speak with Confidence" was posted by celebrities online and gained media attention.[18]

Personal life

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Palmer was born in Fayette, Alabama, and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and receiving a degree from the American Academy of Art. He is currently based in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife, Karida Brown, and their two pugs, Brownie and Blu.[19][20]

Palmer teaches at Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia in addition to his working on his original art.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Charly "Carlos" Palmer Archived March 31, 2010, at the Wayback Machine ninasimone.com
  2. ^ Award Winning Charly "Carlos" Palmer allaboutjazz.com
  3. ^ Award Winning Charly "Carlos" Palmer Archived September 22, 2010, at the Wayback Machine June 2006, buenavistatownship.org
  4. ^ 25 Years in Art: Charly "Carlos" Palmer citypaper.com
  5. ^ Charly "Carlos" Palmer - 25 years in Art Archived 2011-07-23 at the Wayback Machine allhagerstown.net
  6. ^ a b c Williams, Megan (June 7, 2020). "Time's poignant new cover declares 'America Must Change'". Creative Review.
  7. ^ "Coretta Scott King - John Steptoe Award for New Talent | Awards & Grants". www.ala.org. Retrieved 2018-12-22.
  8. ^ "Comics Book Review: The Teachers March!: How Selma's Teachers Changed History". Publishers Weekly. August 19, 2020. Archived from the original on September 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Sanders, Joshua (June 15, 2019). "I Can Write the World". Kirkus.
  10. ^ "Interview With "My Rainy Day Rocket Ship" Author Markette Sheppard!". So Booking Cool. April 16, 2020.
  11. ^ Schlichenmeyer, Terri (August 9, 2017). "Book Review: 'There's a Dragon in My Closet' by Dorothea Taylor, Illustrated by Charly Palmer". The Washington Informer.
  12. ^ "New Brownies' Book". Chronicle Books. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  13. ^ Abdur-Rahman, Nahlah (2024-03-12). "'The New Brownies' Book' Wins NAACP Image Award For Outstanding Nonfiction". Black Enterprise. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
  14. ^ "Regents Lecture with Artist, Charly Palmer". Department of African American Studies. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  15. ^ a b Estima, Christine (June 23, 2020). "John Legend praises Charly Palmer for 'soulful' album cover artwork". The Loop.
  16. ^ Valentine, Victoria (June 30, 2020). "Charly Palmer is Latest Artist Tapped to Illustrate Cover of Time Magazine, Providing Image for 'America Must Change' Issue". Culture Type.
  17. ^ Danzy, Shelley (July 24, 2020). "Q&A: "Now, my mama is in Time magazine!" says Atlanta-based artist Charly Palmer". Artsatl.
  18. ^ "Lady Gaga, Selena Gomez and Shawn Mendes hand over Instagram accounts to black activists and organizations". adage.com. 2020-06-08. Retrieved 2020-07-02.
  19. ^ "Studio Visit: Atlanta Artist Charly Palmer on Painting John Legend's Portrait and What He 'Has to' Listen to While He Works". Artnet News. July 22, 2020.
  20. ^ "ABOUT". Charlypalmer.com. Retrieved 2024-09-19.
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