<h1 style="color: #cab43c; font-size: 2.0rem !important;">Rodney Demps, The Surrealist, and Undervalued Highwaymen Artist</h1>
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Rodney Demps remains one of the more interesting members of the Highwaymen Artists group. While not as “painterly” in a traditional style, as most others in the group, his work captured a unique style, which makes his paintings easily recognizable. His work ranges from “rough” and often undeveloped looking, to paintings that are beautifully sublime. At the same time, his work remains among the lowest priced artwork among all Highwaymen artists. The Highwaymen Collector pricing data shows that all paintings still have an average price of less than $1,000. The most beautiful examples of his work still barely reach $2,000. A quality paining by Demps is likely to outperform the other Highwaymen in terms of value growth.

Born in 1953 in Fort Pierce, Florida, Demps attended a public school in St. Lucie County, where he simulated his interest in painting in the fifth grade. Then, he attended Lincoln Park Academy. He was encouraged by his eighth-grade art teacher, Mrs. Zenobia Jefferson, who brought Rodney to meet A.E. Backus, and Rodney became Backus’s art mentee. Later, through Backus, Rodney connected with Alfred Hair, the co-founder of the Florida Highwaymen. Hair initially taught Demps to build frames from crown moldings, and eventually Demps assisted Hair with his own paintings – typically sketching out the skies in Hair’s work.

Demps eventually transferred to and later graduated from the Fort Pierce Central High School and then attended Florida A&amp;M University where he received a Bachelor of Science in Health, Physical Education and Fitness. After graduation, he entered the United States Marine Corps for two years and got his master’s degree in health education from FAMU. In 2004, he joined the Florida Artists Hall of Fame. He died on June 17, 2020.

Demps was always a bit different than the other Highwaymen. Unlike the others, he never sold his paintings on the road. Instead, he sold them at home. However, he is associated with the Florida Highwaymen due to his interaction with Bean Backus and Alfred Hair. He learned oil painting techniques from Bean Backus and how to build painting frames and landscapes from Alfred Hair. His artwork is unlike other Highwaymen artists. He is known as the Surrealist in the group.

Hair influenced his early-stage paintings, but he combined his painterly approach to color, light, and movement. His later-stage artworks include murals, collages, and multi-media representations of aspects of his daily life, from the football field to his grandmother’s grocery store.

His many landscape paintings, typically combines landscape with surrealism, an artistic movement that allows artists to express the unconscious mind and illogical scenes. For example, in Rainbow Sky (Fig.1), Rodney depicts an oceanside sky and wavy sea with bold and complementary colors of citrus orange blended with robin’s egg blue, buttercup yellow, and lilac. This is not a typical Highwaymen look !

<center><img class="size-medium wp-image-459 aligncenter" src="https://wp.localserverweb.com/thc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fig-1-300x216.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="216" /></center>
<p class="western" align="center"><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Fig.1 </span></span><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Rainbow Sky</span></span></p>
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In the foreground, the palm trees are also surrealistic as painted with brushy dollops and cross-hatched by a palette knife. Although the colors and scenes in his painting aren’t realistic, both allow viewers to reflect on nature and make the scene unforgettable. Demps’ work also provide a metaphor for Florida’s summer sunset. In another painting, Demps portrays an abstract Florida wetlands landscape (Fig.2) with the birds flying in a dramatic sky of orange, yellow, blue, and green colors with curving palm trees beneath the sky. The scene is implying the ocean breeze is blowing the palm with great force. This scene lets viewers imagine that the rainy storm ends with palm trees and floras in front of the crashing sea waves.

<center><img class="size-medium wp-image-460 aligncenter" src="https://wp.localserverweb.com/thc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fig-2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></center>
<p class="western" align="center"><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Fig.2 </span></span><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Rainbow Sky</span></span></p>

Unlike other artists who only depict landscapes or include minimal human involvement in the landscape formation in their painting, Rodney Demps shows local residents at work, or only objects in the picture. A popular Demps subject portrays a Washer Woman loading a car with laundry (Fig.3);

<center><img class="size-medium wp-image-461 aligncenter" src="https://wp.localserverweb.com/thc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fig-3-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" /></center>
<p class="western" align="center"><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Fig.3</span></span><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> Washer Woman loading car with laundry</span></span></p>

another painting shows several people spending time outside of a boarding house (Fig.4).

<center><img class="size-medium wp-image-462 aligncenter" src="https://wp.localserverweb.com/thc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fig-4-300x172.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="172" /></center>
<p class="western" align="center"><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Fig.4 </span></span><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Several people spend time outside of a boarding house</span></span></p>

In these paintings, architecture is presented in an abstract way that structures are stretched or bent, and windows are stacked like squares. People’s faces are never directly depicted. However, these people are moving, and have action, making them become “real” people. These paintings present a dreamlike quality of abstract architecture and ghostly figures as surrealists typically do.

<center><img class="size-medium wp-image-463 aligncenter" src="https://wp.localserverweb.com/thc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fig-5-245x300.jpg" alt="" width="245" height="300" /></center>
<p class="western" align="center"><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Fig. 5 Ocean Sunset</span></span></p>
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(Figure 5) Ocean Sunset captures the best of the Demps style. A vibrant ocean with a rich yellow sunset reflection – but no sun itself represented in the painting. The foreground is dark, as it is not captured in the sunset light. The contrast heightens the drama in the painting.

<center><img class="size-medium wp-image-464 aligncenter" src="https://wp.localserverweb.com/thc/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/fig-6-300x215.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="215" /></center>
<p class="western" align="center"><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Fig.6 </span></span><span style="color: #fff;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Eddie's Place</span></span></p>

Finally, Demps paints Eddie’s Place (Fig.6) to memorize Alfred Hair’s death. The building is in the center, and there is a view of the person’s back, wearing a red top and white pants. Birds are flying in the sky, and a blooming red Royal Poinciana tree is in the background. These characteristics still follow his unique art style, and the building still stands in Florida to tell the story of the “Highwayman” group.

Rodney Demps is a unique member of the Florida Highwaymen because of his surrealist artwork, different way of selling paintings, and unique life experiences. Although he never taught any students, and none of his family members are painters, his art style is unique and always impresses viewers.

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References:

“Fine Art &amp; Antiques Auction .” Absolute Auctions &amp; Realty, <a href="https://aarauctions.com/servlet/Search.do?auctionId=2505&amp;itemId=42081#" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://aarauctions.com/servlet/Search.do?auctionId=2505&amp;itemId=42081#.</a>

“The Original Florida Highwaymen Artist Bios.” Original Florida Hall of Fame Highwaymen, <a href="https://originalfloridahalloffamehighwaymen.org/artist-bios/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://originalfloridahalloffamehighwaymen.org/artist-bios/.</a>

“Rodney Demps .” Florida Highwaymen Paintings, 4 Feb. 2022, <a href="https://www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com/highwaymen/rodney-demps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.floridahighwaymenpaintings.com/highwaymen/rodney-demps/.</a>

“Rodney Demps 1953-2020 Florida Highwaymen Painting.” LiveAuctioneers, <a href="https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/113543491_rodney-demps-1953-2020-florida-highwaymen-painting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/113543491_rodney-demps-1953-2020-florida-highwaymen-painting.</a>

“Rodney Dyanza Demps's Obituary.” Obituary in Fort Pierce at Stone Bros. Funeral Home and Chapel | FL, <a href="https://www.articobits.com/obituaries/stone-bros-funeral-home-and-chapel/rodney-dyanza-demps-obituary" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://www.articobits.com/obituaries/stone-bros-funeral-home-and-chapel/rodney-dyanza-demps-obituary.</a>

Weber, Jasmine. “Florida's Kaleidoscopic Skies and Windblown Palms, Immortalized by a Cohort of Black Painters.” Hyperallergic, 10 Aug. 2021, <a href="https://hyperallergic.com/669196/florida-kaleidoscopic-skies-windblown-palms-immortalized-by-highwaymen-a-cohort-of-black-painters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">https://hyperallergic.com/669196/florida-kaleidoscopic-skies-windblown-palms-immortalized-by-highwaymen-a-cohort-of-black-painters/</a>

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