Don O’Bannon Paints a Portal Into Black History
Don O’Bannon
In a quiet Dallas studio, Don O’Bannon does more than paint; he preserves memory. The self-taught artist, who once practiced law for over three decades, now uses his brush to render history visible and visceral. “We all view the world from our own life experience,” O’Bannon says. “And mine, as a Black man in America, bleeds into every canvas.”
O’Bannon’s work centers Black history, heritage, and identity, evoking a balance between beauty and struggle. Whether it’s a painting of a Union soldier with a salve auction sheet as the backdrop or a portrait of resilience drawn from the depths of the Atlantic slave trade, every image aims to provoke reflection. “I want to make African-American history not just relevant, but relatable,” he explains. “To convert history into something you can feel.”
His journey back to painting was sparked by a trip to Paris, where he saw a portrait of Louis Armstrong constructed from the lyrics of one of his songs. He couldn’t stop thinking about it. When he returned home, he picked up a brush for the first time in 30 years. “I grabbed some cheap paint, a piece of canvas, and recreated the image from memory,” he says. “That’s how it started again.”
O’Bannon paints intuitively, often guided by flashes of inspiration. He sketches ideas from history, blending archival research with emotional resonance. One current work-in-progress features a backdrop of slave ships, annotated with absolute cargo values and human lives, layered with symbolic figures that give voice to the silenced.
His work has been featured at the Harlem Fine Arts Show and the African American Museum in Dallas — moments he describes as humbling and deeply personal. “You’re exposing yourself,” he says. “But when someone sees your work and connects, that’s everything.”
A husband and father of six, Don credits his wife, Marva, as his biggest supporter and toughest critic. “She tells me when something works and when it doesn’t. I wouldn’t be painting without her.”
For O’Bannon, success isn’t measured in sales, but in stories. “I want people to stop, feel something, and maybe learn,” he says. “As long as I’m growing, as long as I have something to say, I’ll keep painting.”
And in every stroke, Don O’Bannon is reclaiming the canvas as a vessel of truth, legacy, and Black brilliance.