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KEVIN BLYTHE SAMPSON
Kevin Blythe Sampson (born 1954) is an artist and retired police officer living in Newark, NJ. Sampson makes sculptures from discarded found objects that act as memorials for various people who have died.

Sampson still has a studio based out of Newark, NJ.

Early life and education
Sampson was born in 1954 in Elizabeth, NJ.

Following High School, Sampson became a police office with the Scotch Plains Police Department in Scotch Plains, NJ.

Sampson attended the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art.

During his career as a Police Officer, Sampson worked as a Composite Sketch Artist for the Scotch Plains Police Department.

Sampson is an artist, who focused on his artistic practice full-time following the deaths of close family members and his retirement from the Scotch Plains Police Department.

Art
Kevin Blythe Sampson is artist who makes sculptures from found objects (such as, glass cabinet knobs, sticks, strings, screws, and wood chips) that act as altars, memorials, and spiritual objects. Sampson began making art as a means to heal after the death of several family members. Sampson’s work references and incorporates African spiritual traditions, including Yoruba, and follow the traditions of the Griot or storyteller. Much of Sampson's work offers commentary on issues of race, racism, and various forms of systemic injustice in the United States.

Alongside other Newark-based artists, Sampson has spoken out against the recent, ongoing gentrification taking place in Newark, NJ.

Selected exhibitions
Solo exhibitions:

2013 - “Kevin Blythe Sampson: An Ill Wind Blowing” at Intuit: The Center for Intuitive and Outsider Art

Group exhibitions:

2016 -  “MODERN HEROICS: 75 Years of African-American Expressionism at the Newark Museum

2014 - “The Roots of the Spirit: Lonnie Holley, Mr. Imagination, Charlie Lucas, Kevin Sampson” at Notre Dame de Namur University Weigand Gallery

''2012 - “Spirit—Fire—Shake! Focal objects by Renée Stout, Kevin Sampson and Odinga Tyehimba” at Gregg Museum of Art & Design, North Carolina State University''

Awards
2016 - Artist-in-Residence, Joan Mitchell Center, New Orleans, LA

2001 - Painters & Sculptors Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation

1994 - Artist-in-Residence, Marie Walsh Sharpe Foundation, New York, NY