If you find yourself in Burlington, Ontario, Canada during the month of February, be sure to swing into the Burlington Art Centre on Lakeshore Blvd to catch another aspect of the festivities for '
Black History Month'. Hanging in the Community Hall will be a repro of an oil painting I did several years ago. It will be up for a month.
The Boxer (of Panama City) - oil on board, by m.l.holton
Alternatively, if you find yourself at the
35th Annual Art Auction at the same venue on
February 7th, take a wonder through the Centre and find this work. It may not be IN the auction, but it IS 'for sale'. Asking $250 for the one-off photo print, signed and dated by moi. The original, in oil, 28" square, is $6500 (Canadian) framed in 2" black wood. If interested in either purchase, contact me directly.
As for the genesis of this painting, it's a good story. A very blonde Dutch friend and I were traveling around Central America when we landed in Panama City. We decided to walk around the waterfront and, quite literally, fell into a local 'boxing club'. Loud, smelly, very male, oozing testosterone and 100% black, we had a rather curious 'aha' moment about 'skin colour' and, tangentially, racism ...
In a perfect world, skin colour
shouldn't 'matter' at all.
But it does. Black, White, Red, Yellow or a mix:
we are who we are.
