“I am dealing with message art: it is informative and relates to a poster in that it gives information. However, I want the information to be discovered; therefore the message is subtle. I try to ask questions and make the viewer think and in turn look closer.”
(Excerpt from “Three Graphic Artists: Charles White, David Hammons, Timothy Washington”, LA County Museum of Art, 1971.
Washington was born in Los Angeles and studied art at the Chouinard Art School (now Cal Arts; BFA, 1969). Washington, along with his contemporaries, David Hammons, Betye Saar, Noah Purifoy, John Outterbridge, and Dan Concholar, favored assemblage using found materials to express social black consciousness. He exhibited at Brockman and Gallery 32 in Los Angeles.
Washington’s work was featured in these important exhibitions:
Soul of a Nation, Art in the Age of Black Power, Now Dig This! Art & Black Los Angeles 1960-1980, and 19 Sixties, A Cultural Awakening Re-evaluated, 1965-1975.
