Klanzmen Dance is a rare overtly political work by Paul Keene. Paul's telling of his life story is largely

one of gratitude. The opportunities that helped him become a fine artist and educator are what he

and his devoted wife spoke of most often: Dr. Herman Gundersheimer helped Paul complete his degrees at Tyler School of Art (Temple University); he was welcomed by colleagues who became lifelong friends at Galerie Huit in Paris; Dewitt Peters provided guidance and support while Paul worked in Haiti on consecutive John Hay Whitney Fellowships. There also was the commanding officer who denied Paul the opportunity to test for the Tuskegee Airmen—Paul left his base without permission, and the dean of a major public university implied Paul would be hired to teach via written correspondence and then reneged when Paul showed up for an interview. Letters exchanged did not inform the dean that Paul was a black man. And so Klanzmen Dance is a rare moment when Paul employs the most basic of drawing methods—ink, brush, and paper, to make what might seem to some a very direct, abstract expressionist, non-objective drawing. And then the drips and slashes begin to align, and figures dressed all in white emerge.