Visions from a Visionary

What would happen if we as a society made it more of a habit to follow true visionaries?  Dictionary.com defines a visionary as "given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or unpractical ideas, views, or schemes."  Could we make an effort to make unpractical ideas into practical ones? 

A number of years ago a mural emerged on a two-story building on Fortification St. in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson.  It was the talk of the town.  Some people were outraged, others were enthused.  It was a unique montage of Southwestern and Native American style imagery gradually covering the entire south and west sides of the building.  One of the most impressive images in the mural was a Native American face stretching the entire two stories on the west facade.  Unfortunately, that side was painted over.  The south facade mural remains.  The mural was painted by a local excentric artist named Patrick Grogan whom I believe was living in the building at the time.

As voices were heard complaining that Belhaven is an historic district and that the mural shouldn't be allowed I wondered what would happen if we followed Patrick's lead.  What if the neighborhood embraced and even encouraged the idea of artists painting murals on the facades of Fortification properties, most of which needed face lifts anyway? That with the upcoming revitalization of Fortification St. could turn that area into an international tourist destination.  Can you envision it?

Many years have passed since the mural was done, but Patrick has not stopped painting.  There was recently an extensive exhibition of his work at the MS Arts Center.   A majority of the work followed the Southwestern aesthetic of the mural.  It is at the same time bizarre, beautiful and intriguing. 

His work was showing at the same time as two other young painters, Greg Gandy who works at the North Midtown Arts Center, and Tristan Barlow.  Their work complemented each other's well but was not helped by the deteriorating conditions of the MS Arts Center galleries. 

Here is a small sampling of the work...

Greg Gandy

"Woman"

Greg Gandy

"Clippin a Leaf"

Greg Gandy

"Sad Friends"

Patrick Grogan

House on Fortification St.

Patrick Grogan

untitled

Patrick Grogan

"Hawk"

Patrick Grogan

"Full Spread"

Patrick Grogan

"Jesus in the Sky with Diamonds"

Patrick Grogan

untitled

Tristan Barlow

"Saint"

Tristan Barlow

"Still life"

Almost missed the conversation

I almost missed it.  Yesterday, I finally made it to the solo show of Ginger Williams-Cook at the Mississippi Arts Center.  The show ended today, but if you missed it I don't think that you have anything to fear.  I am confident that we will be seeing more shows very soon by Ginger.  The reason I am convinced of this is because of the vast output that she seems to be able to accomplish.  One could easily have confused this exhibition as a group show by at least ten different artists, both because of the amount of work and the different styles.  With influences from Modigliani to Japanese block prints to French illustrations she is obviously one of the few with such an honest and authentic out-pouring of creativity and ideas that it is probably more difficult for her to not do the work than to do it.  She considers art a visual conversation, and I believe that is just what she is initiating. 

I had a lot more that I was going to say about her love for sketchbooks, and how I didn't get to see the video about her sketchbooks, and how impressive her drawings are, and about her connection with other equally impressive young artists around here, and about these bizarre and humorous little nesting dolls that she is creating... but my brain stops working after 10:30 PM.  So I am just going to post some work that I had a little conversation with.  

Apartment

Les Yeux Vert

Sidewalk Flower No. 1

Sketch from Paris

The Big Lebowski

Wall full of work

Dance as inspiration

I could not call this a blog about the arts in Jackson if I didn't mention the USA International Ballet Competition (IBC) currently taking place here.  While I usually just focus on visual arts in gallery spaces, the remarkable beauty of these dancers excels to a level of artistry infrequently found in galleries.  There are, however, some painting and photography exhibitions that coincide with the competition that are definitely worth visiting.  The IBC happens every four years and Jackson is the only location it is held in the United States thanks to the vision and love for ballet by the late Thalia Mara.   

The poster artist for the IBC this year is Mississippi State University professor Brent Funderburk who seems to draw a lot of inspiration from ballet and dance.  There are two opportunities to see his watercolors in Jackson right now.  There is a group of paintings in the mezzanine area at Thalia Mara Hall where the IBC is taking place.  There is also a group of paintings and drawings at Bryant Galleries. His vibrant watercolors are a mix of surrealism and non-objective abstraction with hints of east Asian influence.  Fruit transforms into celestial beings, while empty paint tubes seem to take on human personas.  This is most evident in the painting "Today" which seems to represent the crucifixion of Christ.  There is a faint nimbus behind the "head" of the center tube that may be difficult to see in the image below.  

Funderburk's drawings, however, seem to have a different influence.  They are much more reminiscent of the Russian Suprematism work of Kazimir Malevich, or the Italian Futurists.   

Another must see show in conjunction with the IBC is Celestial Bodies/Infernal Souls: Photography by Lois Greenfield.  These stunning photographs at the Arts Center of Mississippi are of dancers captured in mid-air and mid-stride displaying the pinnacle of the capabilities of the human body.  

Pears #2

Winter Into Spring

Goodbye Red

Today

Still Light

November

Lois Greenfield

Backyards and Beyond at the MS Arts Center

If you haven't visited the Backyards and Beyond exhibit at the Mississippi Arts Center in downtown Jackson, you absolutely should.  This isn't just an art exhibit, it is an experience.  H.C. Porter of Vicksburg, MS created this exhibition after the devastation of hurricane Katrina.  As part of the exhibition there are audio recordings from folks that were affected by the storm.  With this exhibition Porter is doing something that most artists hope that their work will do.  That is, not to just make a social statement, but to make a social impact.  Here is what she says about the exhibition... "My hope is that this exhibition will move people toward continued volunteerism and humanitarianism in Mississippi or wherever it may be needed, in our own backyards or beyond.  This is a story that must be told for a very long time."  

Besides the paintings and the audio recordings, there are large images of floors from Gulf Coast homes laid out on the floor of the exhibition space.  The floor images are of broken tiles and mud covered linoleum and holes exposing the ground beneath.  It is a moving experience that helps to give you a better sense of the massive destruction.  She also created a book of the exhibition, set up a website specifically for the exhibition (linked above), and created a non-profit organization to get the exhibition into more spaces nationally.  It is quite an impressive accomplishment logistically.

Back to the paintings.  She continues in the style that she is known for, that is painting on top of a photograph that has been turned into a high contrast black and white image.  Though she has been working this way for years I think that it particularly appealing in this application.  The faces of the subjects remain black and white while the world around is in vivid color.  By removing skin color she is ultimately removing race, and as we know the storm was colorblind.  

I believe that the exhibition is only up through the end of March so go and prepare to be moved.

Leona

Almost Normal

Letting Go

Recess

Uproot & Anguish

The Chair