Over the past several weeks, Les Amis has published articles about young people creating art after “being in conversation” with Beauford’s work:
High school students visiting France with Teens of Color Abroad wrote poems and narratives and illustrated them.
A recent college graduate composed three original musical works grounded in field recordings of Washington Square and Greene Street, two of Beauford’s primary haunts in NYC.
A classical flutist created an improvised work in response to one of Beauford’s abstract paintings.
And the creative process of a young collage artist evolved as a result of his encounter with one of Beauford’s particularly vivid works on paper.
So, it seemed serendipitous to learn that Alteronce Gumby, a multidisciplinary artist who is deeply introspective and curious about color* and light, has intentionally created eight new paintings and three sculptures in dialogue with Beauford’s œuvre.
They will be shown alongside Beauford’s work in a booth shared by the Michael Rosenfeld Gallery (MRG) and Jeffrey Deitch at Art Basel Paris next week.
Untitled (Yellow Light Swirling)
(c.1962, oil on canvas)
Estate stamp
© Estate of Beauford Delaney
by permission of Derek L. Spratley, Esquire,
Court Appointed Administrator
Courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, LLC, New York, NY
Move Fearlessly With Love, 2026
Alteronce Gumby (b.1985)
Malachite, quartz, green onyx, copper, resin, glass, and acrylic on panel
Image courtesy of Michael Rosenfeld Gallery and Jeffery Dietch
After completing his MFA at Yale University in 2016, Gumby immediately took on a residency in Paris, where he learned about the rich history of African Americans who have made Paris their home over the course of multiple decades. He was introduced to Beauford’s work during that time.
When Jeffrey Deitch approached him about doing a show in collaboration with MRG, Gumby thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce his work in conjunction with Beauford’s. He cites many parallels between his life and Beauford’s - their religious backgrounds, transformative time spent in New York and Paris, love of abstraction**, and infusion of spirituality in their work.
MRG and Jeffery Deitch describe the work as follows:
For this presentation, Gumby will debut eight new Sacred Geometry paintings of various sizes, expanding on the body of work that debuted at his 2025 solo presentation Walk on the Moon at Jeffrey Deitch in Los Angeles. On creating his new paintings, which feature fragments of mirrors and organites—composites of gemstones, conductive metals, and resin believed to have spiritual energy—Gumby noted:
Thinking about Delaney while creating these new works for Art Basel Paris has made me consider more deeply how color can become the subject of a painting itself. I'm interested in what happens when colors interact, when they vibrate against one another, and when the material surface begins to hold and reflect light in unexpected ways. There is a freedom in Delaney's paintings that I admire, particularly in the way he allows color to carry emotion without needing to explain or define it.
Also on view will be three Luminaire sculptures: yellow, green, and blue monolithic resin forms with embedded gemstones that alternate between density, translucency, opacity, and luminosity.
Art Basel Paris
October 20–25, 2026
Booth A48
Grand Palais
Paris, France
For ticket options, click HERE.
*Watch Gumby’s award-winning documentary entitled COLOR.
**Listen to Gumby talk about his creative journey and his first encounter with abstract art during an interview with Phyllis Hollis on Cerebral Women HERE.