In celebration of Black History Month, Saw Gallery (67 Nicholas St.) is hosting the Canadian premier of an exhibition of art by the Florida Highwaymen. These were a group of African American artists, mostly self-taught, mostly from Fort Pierce, Florida, who traveled throughout the state painting and selling their works door to door. Starting in the mid-1950s and working solidly through to the 1980s, the Highwaymen (as they were also called) tried to make a living as artists rather than laborers in the Florida fruit industry, but also found that no gallery would take a chance on seemingly untrained African American artists. So they improvised, and sold their works from their cars or by simply knocking on doors. Their style—largely idealized landscapes of Florida—is often characterized as folk art, but by the early 2000s had become highly prized by collectors.
There are 26 artists generally considered part of the Highwaymen. And the SAW Gallery show, running from February 5th to the 29th will show, for the first time outside the United States, thirty works by Alfred Hair, Harold Newton, Roy McLendon Sr., Mary Ann Carroll, James Gibson, Livingston Roberts, Willie Daniels, Johnny Daniels, Ellis Buckner, George Buckner, Sam Newton, Al Black and Lem Newton.
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