A Conversation With Artist Greg Bolden

For my latest interview, I reached out to Greg Bolden.

Our exchange, which has been edited, is below.

Would you tell me a little bit about yourself?

Hi, my name is Gregory Bolden, CEO of BOLD-N-ART-LLC, and I’m a poet, author, artist and mentor. I am a Washington, D.C. native and the youngest of three siblings. Formerly incarcerated and now an agent of change for social justice, equality and prison reform, I’ve used art to transform my life, evoke thought and inspire change. I enjoy music, fishing (when I’m actually catching some), painting of course, writing and just being a creative.

Would you talk about your artistic influences? More specifically, what is it about Matisse that you like so much?

My artistic influences would be Harry Ellis (incarcerated), Van Gogh, Matisse, [Jean-Michel] Basquiat, Romare Bearden, Clarence Council (formerly incarcerated), Harmonia Rosales and Rembrandt, just to name a few.

More specifically as it pertains to Matisse, I love the way he devised his own methods by having the audacity to use simplicity to create great works of art — cut outs. What I’m most impressed about is the fact that he continued to soldier on with his craft at every stage of his life, not allowing the turbulence of life [to] deter him from living in…