Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and Art [Bargain Price] [Hardcover]

Winfred Rembert (Illustrator), Nikki Giovanni (Contributor)

Book Description

Sometimes a book is more than a book—it is a way for readers to meet an extraordinary person and discover an exceptional life. Winfred Rembert grew up in the 1950s in rural Georgia as the child of sharecroppers. Now, in his own voice and through his powerful paintings, he shares with young people his story and his passionate commitment to self-improvement. Reminiscent of the work of Jacob Lawrence and Horace Pippin, the paintings’ rich, deep colors and poignant details powerfully narrate a story of personal courage and exceptional talent. At the same time, Rembert shows how the civil rights movement was not just a matter of famous speeches and marches, but was a product of the bonds of the black community and the unbreakable spirit of individuals who would not allow any threat, chain, or jail to hold them back. Color photos and illustrations add to this inspiring memoir of a self-taught African American artist in the segregated South.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-Rembert grew up in the segregated rural South of the 1950s. His paintings visually chronicle this life, while his own words fill in where the pictures leave off. Although he did not begin painting until the 1990s, his memories are vividly portrayed in strong, confident works of art. From the cotton fields to Colored Folks Corner in Cuthbert, GA, to the county chain gang, Rembert depicts a hard life without bitterness. He also captures happier memories. The paintings are done in deep, warm, rich colors on leather. Shapes and colors create patterns that fill the art and draw the eye across the page. The white of the cotton bolls spread in waves across the field contrast sharply with the dark pigments of the pickers' skin tones. Black-and-white stripes of the chain gang literally cover the leather canvas. The reproductions fill the pages and details are enlarged within the discussion on subsequent pages. The result is a cohesive union of text and illustrations that reinforces the emotions, rhythm, and power of this autobiographical profile. The self-taught artist's powerful work is reminiscent of works by Jacob Lawrence and Horace Pippin. The title, which comes from Nikki Giovanni's poem for Winfred Rembert, is a theme that runs throughout the artist's life and his work. This book makes a strong companion to Belinda Rochelle's Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art (HarperCollins, 2001).-Carolyn Janssen, Children's Learning Center of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Gr. 4-7. This handsome book about the life and art of Winfred Rembert begins auspiciously with "Don't Hold Me Back," a poem written for the artist by Nikki Giovanni. In his autobiographical account, Rembert reflects on growing up in Georgia, picking cotton, worrying about lynching, attending a civil rights demonstration, spending time in prison. Telling the same story visually, Rembert's unusual pictures are classified as "outsider art." At first glance they look like naive paintings, but each one is a piece of leather that has been carved, tooled, and dyed with rich colors. Often a picture is discussed on a single double-page spread. In other cases, the discussion continues on a second spread, with portions of the original picture framed, enlarged, and presented again. This technique works very well, and so does the unusual practice of using a dark, monotone print of the featured picture as background for text. The book closes with a note on the art, a historical note, and a bibliography of recommended reading. This beautifully designed, very accessible book offers a vivid impression of an African American man's experiences in the mid-twentieth-century South. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Cricket Books; 1 edition (September 18, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812627032
• ASIN: B002UXS0LQ
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,935,741 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winfred Rembert's remarkable life and art, October 6, 2003

By 

Christine S Schloss (Guilford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and Art (Hardcover)

This book pairs Mr. Rembert's remarkable paintings of his life with a poem by Nikki Giovanni. Winfred Rembert, an African-American artist originally from Georgia, incises scenes from his early life story on panels of leather, creating an unusually effective art form. The 3-D quality of his works, with forms molded through leather working techniques and colorfully dyed in precise areas, is difficult to capture in photographs, and some of the illustrations in this book only hint of the depth of his images. Mr. Rembert narrates the scenes in an approachable style. He has lived a life of epic proportions; he describes being given away as an infant by his mother to a relative, picking cotton in the rural south in near slave conditions, the good times at "colored corner," his civil rights struggle, surviving a near lynching, and his imprisonment, partly spent on a chain-gang. In prison he was introduced to the leather working techniques that he now employs in his art. In spite of his struggles, Mr. Rembert never lost his sense of himself or his optimism. A selection of his paintings was exhibited at the Yale Art Gallery in 2000, but this is the first book on his life and art. It is an important source for people interested in African-American life and art, or in folk art today.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Winfred Rembert's remarkable life and art, October 6, 2003

By 

Christine S Schloss (Guilford, CT United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Don't Hold Me Back: My Life and Art (Hardcover)

This book pairs Mr. Rembert's remarkable paintings of his life with a poem by Nikki Giovanni. Winfred Rembert, an African-American artist originally from Georgia, incises scenes from his early life story on panels of leather, creating an unusually effective art form. The 3-D quality of his works, with forms molded through leather working techniques and colorfully dyed in precise areas, is difficult to capture in photographs, and some of the illustrations in this book only hint of the depth of his images. Mr. Rembert narrates the scenes in an approachable style. He has lived a life of epic proportions; he describes being given away as an infant by his mother to a relative, picking cotton in the rural south in near slave conditions, the good times at "colored corner," his civil rights struggle, surviving a near lynching, and his imprisonment, partly spent on a chain-gang. In prison he was introduced to the leather working techniques that he now employs in his art. In spite of his struggles, Mr. Rembert never lost his sense of himself or his optimism. Now living in New Haven, CT, he first exhibited his paintings at the Yale Art Gallery in 2000. This is the first book on his life and paintings. "Don't Hold me Back" is a must buy for anyone interested in African-American life and art, or in folk art today.