McCleary "Bunch" Washington (1937-2008) was a visual artist, author, musician, educator and poet who studied at the Barnes Foundation and the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now University of the Arts). His standard mediums were collage, watercolor, oil on canvas, pen and ink, bas-relief and sculpture. He also invented a technique that combined these elements within a polyester resin base to produce a stained glass-like medium that he called the Transparent Collage. Consistent themes in his work were family life, music, African-inspired motifs, the Baha'i Faith, and the transcendent nature of the human soul.
While in his twenties, Bunch moved to New York City, where he partnered with his future wife to open a small southern food restaurant that became a gathering place for cultural figures of the day such as Charles Mingus, Dick Gregory, Sun Ra, Kathleen (not yet) Cleaver, Amiri Baraka, and many others.
A few years prior, Bunch befriended Romare Bearden (1911-1988), who would become his mentor and his greatest artistic influence. Bearden, one of America's preeminent artists, is best known for using collage to contextualize the African-American experience in universal terms. In 1972, Bunch wrote, designed and edited The Art of Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual, credited with being the first major book about an African-American artist. Both Bunch and his mentor "Romy" shared a desire to promote awareness about the influence of African and African-American art, and to encourage the cross-pollination of art from all parts of the globe.
While in his twenties, Bunch moved to New York City, where he partnered with his future wife to open a small southern food restaurant that became a gathering place for cultural figures of the day such as Charles Mingus, Dick Gregory, Sun Ra, Kathleen (not yet) Cleaver, Amiri Baraka, and many others.
A few years prior, Bunch befriended Romare Bearden (1911-1988), who would become his mentor and his greatest artistic influence. Bearden, one of America's preeminent artists, is best known for using collage to contextualize the African-American experience in universal terms. In 1972, Bunch wrote, designed and edited The Art of Romare Bearden: The Prevalence of Ritual, credited with being the first major book about an African-American artist. Both Bunch and his mentor "Romy" shared a desire to promote awareness about the influence of African and African-American art, and to encourage the cross-pollination of art from all parts of the globe.