Danny Simmons brings his full creative force to the Houston Museum of African American Culture with The Journey to Everything, an exhibition that fuses multimedia paintings with African artifacts from his own collection.
When I interviewed Simmons a few years ago, he spoke passionately about Africa as both an artistic and spiritual touchstone.
He described his style as “neo-African abstract expressionism” and explained how textiles, patterns, and symbolism form a language through which he communicates vitality and ancestral memory.
Simmons builds his paintings with layers of fabric and texture, blending kente cloth, batik silks, mud cloth, and wax prints into his compositions. He ties these materials together with sweeping lines, splashes of color, and unexpected touches such as neon lace.
What I liked most about the exhibition was how he placed African artifacts among the paintings. They connected the past to the future and reminded me that Black creativity is a living force that crossed oceans, endured oppression, and carried its spiritual essence into every generation.
Several works stood out for both their scale and their storytelling. A Uphill Climb (2022), a monumental four-part canvas nearly eight feet tall and twelve feet wide, embodies Simmons’ belief in art as a conduit of spiritual force.
He integrates vibrant passages of paint with fragments of kente cloth, mud cloth, and wax prints, balancing abstraction with fabric that carries cultural meaning.
At first glance, The Nappy Headed Witches and Grandma’s Duppy (2024) looks like a single disembodied figure, but closer inspection reveals a collage of lace hair and three printed female faces staring back at you.
The title blends the contemporary phrase “nappy headed” with the Caribbean word “duppy,” meaning spirit or ghost. Together, they point to how heritage, spirituality, and ancestral memory live on in everyday life. Simmons’ repeated use of dots adds another layer, linking African body painting, Aboriginal art, and modernist traditions while symbolizing concentrated spiritual power.
We See You (2023) takes that sense of presence further. A dense black lace pattern covers much of the canvas, with bursts of red, yellow, and blue pressing through. From this textured web emerge two faces, gazing out at the viewer with an intensity that cannot be ignored. The title flips the usual relationship between audience and artwork: here, it is not only we who see the painting, but the painting, and the ancestors it represents, that sees us.
The Journey to Everything reminded me that memory, migration, and spirit are not relics of the past. They are alive, still shaping who we are today.
Frederick J. Goodall is the Editor-in-Chief of Mocha Man Style, media spokesperson, event host, photographer, and a top social media influencer in Houston, TX. He likes to write about fashion, cars, travel, and health.