Travis Somerville
Introduction '''Travis Somerville''' (born 1963) is an American artist based in San Francisco, California. Known for tackling Southern racial issues, Somerville’s works incorporate collage  painting and sculptural elements, as well as site-specific installations.
Early life and education Somerville was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1963.His parents, both European American, were civil rights activists, his father worked as an Episcopal preacher and his mother was a schoolteacher. Somerville grew up in various cities and rural towns throughout the Southern United States. He briefly studied at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore, Maryland, finally settling in San Francisco in 1984 where he attended the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI).
Work Somerville’s work simultaneously tries to reconcile his personal struggle with his own Southern Christian upbringing and the overt tumultuous racial politics of then with the mixed messaging backlash of now. Using collaged and painted pictorial elements, he summons imagery and words from the history, politics, popular culture, and fine art into juxtapositions that challenge conventional lines of history and social perceptions.For example, his piece, ''Boy in the Hood'', 2000, portrays Malcolm X wearing a Ku Klux Klan hood. In an interview with Nathan Larramendy, Somerville stated, “My southern identity will always play a part in my work because that is who I am... I feelthe overall theme of my work is oppression and greed. I want the oppressed to be validated and the oppressors to be guilty. I want people to realize that we are all connected in some way and we are responsible for each other.”
Awards * 2000 The Art Council Grant* Artist in Residence, University of Houston–Clear Lake — Houston, Texas (USA)*2010 – Painters & Sculptors Grant recipient, Joan Mitchell Foundation*2018 – Artist in Residence (served in 2018, awarded in 2016),  Joan Mitchell Foundation
Public collections * 21c Museum hotels, Louisville, Kentucky* The Achenbach Collection of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF), San Francisco, California* di Rosa, Napa, California* Laguna Art Museum, Laguna Beach, California* Progressive Art Collection, Mayfield Village, Ohio* San Jose Museum of Art, San Jose, California * Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota * San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, California
Select solo exhibitions *2010 Museum of Contemporary Art, Boulder, Colorado*2009 ''Dedicated to the Proposition'', Ben Maltz Gallery, Otis College of Art and Design, Los Angeles, California*2008 ''Authentic Facsimiles of a Nation'', Caren Golden Fine Art Gallery, New York, New York*2007 ''The Great American Let Down'', Overtones Gallery, Los Angeles, California*2006 ''American Cracker Too'', Alfred C. Glassell Jr. Exhibition Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana ''American Cracker'', Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California ''Peckerwood Nation'', Nathan Larramendy Gallery, Ojai, California*2004 ''More Songs of the South'', Nathan Larramendy Gallery, Ojai, California*2003 ''More Songs of the South'', Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California (catalogue)*2002 ''Another Song of the South'', University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia*2000 ''Song of the South'', Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California ''Travis Somerville: New Work'', University of Houston-Clear Lake, Houston, Texas (catalogue)*1998 ''The Land of Cotton'', Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California*1996 ''I’ve Never Been to Aceldama: New Work (125th San Francisco Art Institute Anniversary Exhibit)'', Catharine Clark Gallery, San Francisco, California*1994 ''Introductions'', Morphos Gallery, San Francisco, California*1993 ''Travis Somerville'', Mace, San Francisco, California*1992 ''Travis Somerville'', Mace, San Francisco, California*1991 ''Travis Somerville'', Mace, San Francisco, California ''Travis Somerville'', Show N Tell, San Francisco, California*1990 ''Travis Somerville'', Mace, San Francisco, California*1989 ''Travis Somerville'', 1078 Gallery, Chico, California ''Travis Somerville,'' Show N Tell, San Francisco, California
Notes
External links *  Travis Somerville's page at beta pictoris gallery