LOS ANGELES, CA.- The California African American Museum presents Curvature: Lines and Shapes on view from July 24 through November 2, 2014. The exhibition explores the expressive figurative illustrations of two emerging artists, Michael Kilgore and Anthony “Eve” Kemp, whose artistic styles are influenced by Fauvism, Expressionism and Cubism.

The exhibition features approximately 48 artworks that includes Kemp’s “The Muse – Line of Scandinavia” (2010), “Queen Bee, Edna Hightower,” “Mi Familia” series (2010), and “Queen Elizabeth the Atom Bomb” (2007) and Kilgore’s “Cleopatra in Corset” (2012), “Josephine’s Diva Pose” (2011), and “Basquiat-Picasso Woman” (2012).

Many of the artworks depict the lifestyle, history, and culture of African Americans. Common threads between the two artists are the inspiration and influences derived from the women and family in their lives, and the prominent figures they have come to admire. Even more undeniable is their regard for the curves of women.

Michael Kilgore, born in New Jersey, is an artist and style guru. Although the two worlds never met in the same settings, they both insinuate, but are not limited to, the curves of a female.

“I consider the female curve the work of God,” said Kilgore.

Kilgore’s sensitivity to curves is the result of his wife’s influence on him. His first exposure to art and fashion was watching the way his mother carried herself, in which he explains was a work of art. Kilgore describes his work as a “blending of Africa and Paris” reflecting Cubism and Abstract Expressionism. However, he doesn't remain entrenched in any particular mode.

Anthony “Eve” Kemp, a Michigan native, attended Central High School where the curriculum focused on the arts, yet had no formal training in visual arts. The self-taught artist who was raised by his mother, six aunts and seven uncles, received inspiration from the women who had a constant presence in his life. Kemp’s artworks are reflections of his inspiration by these women as such in his “Mi Familia” series. The series includes exaggerations of lines and shapes of women wearing hats and/or elaborate accessories. More provocative, Kemp’s “The Muse Dr. Emma The Reclining Nude” insinuates the beauty of real curves and shapes of a woman, often not restricted solely to women of color.