Painter gets inspired by Serena and Althea Gibson

Sam Gilliam's art came into its own in the 1960s. It was then that he originated the style of draping and painting canvas. In the 1970s and beyond, he has made "3D draping" downright famous.

Now he's turning his attention to Black heroes.

Color field painting remains the 86-year-old Gilliam's form after many decades of work, and his new piece, titled "Heroines, Beyoncé, Serena and Althea," offers a striking interpretation of his inspirations. Some of his newest art incorporates painting and work with metals, and "meditate on the physicality of color."

Aside from historic and current luminaries Althea Gibson, Serena Williams and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter, Gilliam's latest draws on the lives and times of civil rights icon John Lewis, who died in July, and others.

Gilliam's twilight-of-career art is a testament to his craft and endurance. From ArtBasel to the Venice Biennale, the Smithsonian to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, his life's body of work speaks for itself. From the Art Institute of Chicago to London's Tate Modern, his pieces are featured in more than 50 permanent collections. In 2015, then–Secretary of State John Kerry awarded him the U.S. Medal of Arts Lifetime Achievement honor.

The octogenarian's work, including the "Heroines" piece, will show at the Pace Gallery in Manhattan, New York. That show will mark the 86-year-old's stepping-out as an artist represented by Pace.

"Artists are supposed to change," Gilliam said in an interview earlier this year. In a 2020 full of disheartening surprises for many, the fortitude of this venerable artist serves as a catalyst for all of us.