Bio and Artist Statement

Promotional photo of Napoleon Wilkerson
Napoleon Wilkerson (b. 1967, Bronx, New York)
Napoleon Wilkerson is an artist and art teacher who moved from New York to Savannah, Georgia in 1972. He graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with a B.F.A. in illustration and Napoleon received his certification to teach art in the Savannah public schools from Armstrong Atlantic State University. Napoleon began his artistic life in Savannah at the young age of seven, when his mother enrolled him in classes at the Savannah Art Association. The promise he showed as a young child has developed remarkably, as he honed his skills at the Savannah College of Art and Design, where he earned a B.F.A, and where he is also working towards a Master Degree in Painting. He has been honored many times at the Gullah Festival in Beaufort, SC where he has four times won the Best in Show Award. Napoleon also won the Georgia Resident Award from the Georgia Watercolor Society. He has exhibited his work at the S.P.A.C.E. Gallery in Savannah, GA, the Harriet Tubman African American museum in Macon, GA, the African American Atelier in Greensboro, NC, the National Black Arts Festival in Atlanta, GA, the Telfair Art Fair, and the Beach Institute Museum in Savannah, GA. Napoleon Wilkerson has taught art in the Savannah Public Schools since 1994, and currently teaches at the Savannah Arts Academy.
Napoleon has illustrated two children’s books and three covers for African American Images Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois. He was featured in the summer issue of Watercolor, 1997, and the spring issue of American Visions Magazine, 1993. Napoleon is currently working towards earning his M.A. degree in painting at SCAD and plans to open up a studio and gallery in the near future.




The Artist Statement of Napoleon Wilkerson

My artwork in this M.A. Painting program is about my family and the various family experiences which have guided much of my work, specifically the brief adoption of several of my nephews and nieces into my family. As with many major life changes, this adoption brought challenges as frequently as moments of joy, and the varying emotions worn on the faces and postures of my family which are what my watercolors seek to capture. I paint watercolor portraits of my family in private moments.
The first of the series of three paintings depicts my son Ezra having chemotherapy administered to him. This portrait was done in watercolors at the size of 26”x 41”. The painting is a record and documentation of the experience my son is going through. During my first week of returning back to teaching at the Savannah Arts Academy on August 14th, Friday at 2:25, I received a call from my wife that I needed to come home she needed to tell me something about Ezra’s doctor’s appointment. My wife told me that Ezra had tumors in his brain and spine. I was in shock and saddened and I needed to know what will be our next step. Ezra went through surgery and the results confirmed it was cancerous. My theme was always about family but I wasn’t certain if I was ready emotionally to express in my art anything about my family current issues related to my son. I finally decided when I went with Ezra to chemotherapy that I would draw him. I thought it would be strange at first, but drawing him gave me the confidence to approach the subject for my theme.
In my conclusion, I will continue my family theme until I’ve completed my M.A. program. My family is doing fine, and my son Ezra has overcome cancer with a few more days of radiation treatment left. Ezra is cancer free.