Markeith Woods, a native of Pine Bluff, AR, is a 2014 graduate from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts and a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He is a national artist who has exhibited at various locations including, Agora Gallery in NYC, a solo show at Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council, a solo show at Batesville Arts Councils winner of the Arkansas Arts Council SWOP, recipient of the Artist 360 grant and artist in residency at Chautauqua School of Art Residency Program to name a few. He furthered his educational career by becoming a full-time elementary Art Teacher, where he finished his fifth year of teaching in the Fort Smith School District. Woods is committed to motivating the world through the Arts by inspiring, educating, and teaching hope to embrace purpose.

My work abstracts two narratives of the figures I paint and my own experiences. My paintings depict a personal story of Life's reality that explores the psychological state of living as a Black male in the United States, always in survival mode in a culture meant to create division and separation. I re-create my personal experiences through conversations between my subjects by using familiar images, poses, objects, environments, and emotions. Perception is everything, so I make it my mission to tell a correct view of the figures in my artwork from my lenses as I have experiences judgments from an incorrect perspective. When faced with Life's challenges and confronting pain, it drives out the imperfection we face; Life's challenges and pain bring society's ills to light, such as oppression, health disparities, societal problems, unemployment, and other issues. I paint a moment of my subjects going through these transitions and finding similar experiences that I relate to because it is not my subject's fault that Life challenges; it is the inadequate structures of systems built into institutions meant to oppress.

I identify with the characters in my classmates, as their experiences and goals reflect a normal state of mind. I am interested in my subjects' subjectivity and think about creating a composition that captures their experience from their perspective. I also obscure perspective to show how the policies and rules of institutions stop agency. Part of the process is contacting my high school classmates and discussing how our experiences are similar. Next, I go into my city Pine Bluff, AR community, where I grew up to take pictures of my classmates to create a similar environment and experience based on our conversation. I aim to show the sitter looking off in a daze and train of thought because Blacks are responsible for how the world perceives us and are forced to take ownership over problems that the system creates. By working so closely with my subjects, I redefine a new perspective for Blacks and the viewer to develop new authorship of existentialism due to the world's narratives of Black individuals being told in a negative light without all of the facts. Hence, I paint to provide more information from two points of view.

EDUCATION 

2022     Master of Fine Arts in Painting, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

2014     Bachelor of Science in Visual Arts, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pine Bluff, AR

2022     Artist-in-residence, Chautauqua Visual Arts Program, Chautauqua Institution, Chautauqua, NY

SOLO EXHIBITIONS  

2022     University of Arkansas Thesis Exhibitions: Invisible Until  

2021     Batesville Area Arts Council, Batesville, AR  

2020     Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council, Inc., Texarkana, TX  

2018     UAPB John Brown Watson Memorial Library, Pine Bluff, AR   

             Indigo Blue Coffeehouse, Pine Bluff, AR  

2017     House of Art, Little Rock, AR  

2015     Memphis College of Art, Memphis, TN  

             Texarkana Regional Arts & Humanities Council, Inc., Texarkana, TX  

2014     Homecoming Pine Bluff Convention Center Hotel, Pine Bluff, AR  2013 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS   

2022     Connections I: CVA School of Art Residents Exhibitions 

             South Arkansas Arts Center Annual Juried Art Competition 

2021     Shaping Time Into Something Other Than Itself at Fayetteville Public Library  

             Art Ventures, Frame of Mind, Fayetteville, AR  

             Batesville Area Arts Council National Juried Exhibition, Batesville, AR 

             School of Art 2nd year MFA student’s undercurrent/overview  

             New American Painting MFA Juried Exhibition 

2020     School of Art Student Abstract Painting Exhibition, Fayetteville, AR  

             TAAC's 10th Annual Regional Celebration of African American Artists Exhibit 

2019     Agora Gallery Roots & Wings, NYC  

            Batesville Area Arts Council National Juried Exhibition, Batesville, AR  

            UAPB Fine Arts Gallery, Pine Bluff, AR  

2018    Batesville Area Arts Council National Juried Exhibition, Batesville, AR  

            Delta des Refuse’s Exhibition, Little Rock, AR  

            Wakendra, Little Rock, AR 

            The Spot Lounge, Pine Bluff, AR  

            Arkansas Arts Council SWOP touring exhibition, AR 

            Alternate Roots Weekend Mississippi Arts Center, Jackson, MS  

            Freedom & Blues Folk Art Show, Pine Bluff, AR  

            Ebony Expression Art Show, Little Rock, AR  

            New Deal Studios & Gallery, Little Rock, AR  

            Agape Arts, Pine Bluff, AR  

2017    Ebony Expression Art Show, Little Rock, AR  

2014    The Birth of an Artist Silent Audition, Hot Springs, AR  

            Hearne Fine Art Indigo Visions, Little Rock, AR  

            Grand Prairie Art Festival, Stuttgart, AR  

            Student Senior Exhibit at UAPB Fine Arts Gallery, Pine Bluff, AR  

2013    Hot Springs Still Life exhibition, Hot Springs, AR  

2012    Pine Bluff Annual Art League Show, Arts& Science Center, Pine Bluff, AR  

            Portrait Exhibition, Fine Arts Center of Hot Springs, Hot Springs, AR