Charles Mason III (born 1990; lives Baltimore, MD) received an AA in general studies from the Community College of Baltimore County, a BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and an MFA in Studio Art from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia. He currently teaches in the Department of Fine and Performing Arts at Morgan State University, Baltimore. He has had solo exhibitions at Maryland Art Place, Baltimore and Spillway Collective, Philadelphia. He has participated in a number of group exhibitions at venues including the Urban Institute for Contemporary Art, Grand Rapids, MI; Anna Zorina Gallery and The Studio Museum in Harlem, both New York; Hudson Valley MOCA, Peekskill, NY; and Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia. His work has been featured in articles published in The Baltimore Sun and BMORE Art. Mason’s work is in the permanent collection of the James E. Lewis Museum of Art, Baltimore. He is a recipient of the Maurice Freed Memorial Prize from the Woodmere Art Museum and has been in residence at the Creative Alliance, Baltimore.
Statement from the Artist:
I am steadily wrestling within myself on what blackness entails for me at any instance. This leads me to think and create abstractly on how blackness can be experienced through materials. Having an exploration of material that goes hand in hand with my research processes helps to form an assemblage of ideas upon how thinking about navigating blackness can happen through taking up space, creating an experience and atmosphere.