New exhibit explores little told aspect of African American history

Published 2:00 pm Saturday, January 14, 2023

As an artist, Cedric Smith has made a career out of using his talent to create teachable moments.

Such is the case of his most recent exhibit, “Horsepower” — a 16-piece collection of paintings highlighting African American cowboys, jockeys, soldiers and hunters.

The collection was inspired by an encounter Smith had with a young boy inside of his Macon studio. He was working on one of the eventual “Horsepower” pieces when the child walked by and saw it.

“And he said, ‘I didn’t know Black people rode horses,’” Smith said.

It was a lightbulb moment of sorts for Smith, a self-professed fan of Western films. And as he always does when it comes to his paintings, he began delving deeper and deeper into research on his subject matter. He soon learned that 25% of cowboys of the day were African American. As he read more, he learned that many of the original Kentucky Derby jockeys were also African Americans.

“They won many of the races back then, but then when the money started getting bigger, they slowly were pushed out,” he said.

He read about the Civil War and how African American Union soldiers used horses during battles.

As it always happens when he’s working, Smith began thinking that if he didn’t know about these things, many others probably didn’t either. And so, he began painting the collection in hopes of using it as an educational tool.

“[People] come to see the show. They see these images of Blacks on horses, and maybe they would go and start doing their own research and digging and learning things on their own,” he said.

The collection compliments the overall theme of Smith’s work.

“My aim with my painting has always been about … contributions Blacks have made to America,” he said.

Smith’s path into the art world is an inspiring story in itself. While he had a love for painting, he never set out to be an artist; he didn’t believe there was a career in it. So instead, he got a job cutting hair in a barbershop — one that happened to have several empty walls. Smith soon began filling those walls with his own original pieces and even sold a few here and there.

One day, he happened to be cutting the hair of an artist from Louisiana when he heard the man talking to someone about his art studio in downtown Atlanta. Smith was soon invited to visit, and it was a moment that changed his life.

“After leaving his studio, I went back to work the next day, and I put in a two week’s notice,” he said.

Smith eventually got his paintings into a gallery and began doing more and more shows. Today, he is a full-time artist with his own studio, but even his earliest work set out with a specific message. His very first paintings were inspired by lyrics from the rap song by the group Public Enemy titled “Fight the Power,” that said, “Most of my heroes don’t appear on no stamps.”

Just as he did with “Horsepower,” Smith took the idea and began doing his own research.

“You didn’t see images of Blacks on them, and so that was my first series,” he said. “I started doing these images of postage stamps and putting Blacks on them, but I was just putting the everyday person like the postman or a teacher…”

He soon moved on to currency and then to magazine covers, all the while raising curiosity and sparking conversation.

“With me, it’s always trying to put a positive spin on the imagery of Blacks because it is such a negative portrayal in so many ways like from the news or anything else, so I’m always just trying to put a spin on it and show [that] there’s very good people out here who are doing things, and they’re contributing and they’re history-making and they’re just as Americana as anything else,” he said.

As with all of his paintings, he said he is hopeful that the “Horsepower” exhibit inspires curiosity as well as a sense of empathy.

“In so many ways, everybody walks around in our own bubble, and we don’t put ourselves in other people’s shoes. And so, I’m just hoping that some people who see a show like this for a little moment, even if it’s just for a time after the exhibit, that they put themselves in that person’s shoes and have more empathy and understanding and also some gratitude toward people that they don’t normally see every day.”

The “Horsepower” exhibit began on Jan. 12 and will be on display in Georgia College & State University’s Ennis Hall from 1 to 4 p.m. on Jan. 17, 19-20, 24, 26-27, 31 and Feb. 2-3, 7 and 9.