Blind Black Artist
Either way his music has endured and his legacy today remains stronger.
Blind black artist. Blindness is debilitating but even this does not make it impossible to create art. The late english painter sargy mann at work in his studio along with one of his canvases. It was in his mid thirties that the british artist sargy mann started to go blind due to cataracts present in both of his eyes.
In fact like his gospel playing friend he died pretty much forgotten just a few years before the folk boom of the early sixties would surely have rescued him from obscurity. Blind artists are people who are physically unable to see normally yet work in the visual arts this seeming contradiction is overcome when one understands that only around 10 of all people with blindness can see absolutely nothing at all. As such most blind people can in fact perceive some level of light and form and it is by applying this limited vision that many blind artists create.
Blind black british woodcarver del fine artist is inspired by historical accounts from past eras the present and prophetic glances of the possibilities for blacks in the future. Like his friend and contemporary blind willie johnson mctell was destined never to be a major success in his lifetime. Artists who still have some perception of light and form can use this to create art.
Even if an artist suddenly becomes blind from an accident for example the artist can still use the mind s eye to create art. This is particularly true in blues gospel jazz and other predominantly african american forms perhaps because discrimination at the time made it more difficult for black blind people to find other employment. Del seeks to reclaim or establish a portrayal of black folk in the history of western culture.
