RAC Gallery: Friday, 6 March 2009
Art, Inside & Out: paintings by John Barton and Phillip Hampton
Exhibition: March 6 through April 12
Opening reception: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. March 6
Gallery talk: Wednesday, March 25; 6:30 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. talk
Gallery hours: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Both John Barton and Phillip Hampton-the featured artists in the exhibition Art, Inside & Out - are painters, and art has been an integral aspect of their lives. Those lives, however, have been very different and their work is inevitably shaped by their individual experiences.
Barton, a self-taught or Outsider Artist and the son of a preacher, often has a spiritual message in his work which is inspired by his dreams and visions. Barton had little or no contact with the institutions of the mainstream art world. He began drawing and painting at an early age but his art wasn't appreciated until late in life. "My paintings grew out of my experiences, thoughts, feelings. I'm 67 years old and I've wondered what all of this means. Needless to say, it's part of me. I've been an artist 'on the outside' maybe all my life," said Barton.
Grappling with such charged topics as human nature and religion, Barton's art is expressive and emotional-at times even tinged with pain. Hampton, on the other hand, approaches his art from an analytical and scientific point of view. Hampton was one of three artists featured in last year's exhibition African American Abstraction: St. Louis Connections at the Saint Louis Art Museum. His abstract work is inspired by the self-imposed question "What is reality and what makes reality real?"
Through their work, Hampton and Barton each present us with unique and very personal points of view. Combined, their art shows us every aspect of life: the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.
Art, Inside & Out is curated by Laurie Carmody Ahner of Galerie Bonheur.
Exhibition: March 6 through April 12
Opening reception: 5:30 - 7:30 p.m. March 6
Gallery talk: Wednesday, March 25; 6:30 p.m. reception, 7 p.m. talk
Gallery hours: Monday - Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.
Both John Barton and Phillip Hampton-the featured artists in the exhibition Art, Inside & Out - are painters, and art has been an integral aspect of their lives. Those lives, however, have been very different and their work is inevitably shaped by their individual experiences.
Barton, a self-taught or Outsider Artist and the son of a preacher, often has a spiritual message in his work which is inspired by his dreams and visions. Barton had little or no contact with the institutions of the mainstream art world. He began drawing and painting at an early age but his art wasn't appreciated until late in life. "My paintings grew out of my experiences, thoughts, feelings. I'm 67 years old and I've wondered what all of this means. Needless to say, it's part of me. I've been an artist 'on the outside' maybe all my life," said Barton.
Grappling with such charged topics as human nature and religion, Barton's art is expressive and emotional-at times even tinged with pain. Hampton, on the other hand, approaches his art from an analytical and scientific point of view. Hampton was one of three artists featured in last year's exhibition African American Abstraction: St. Louis Connections at the Saint Louis Art Museum. His abstract work is inspired by the self-imposed question "What is reality and what makes reality real?"
Through their work, Hampton and Barton each present us with unique and very personal points of view. Combined, their art shows us every aspect of life: the good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful.
Art, Inside & Out is curated by Laurie Carmody Ahner of Galerie Bonheur.
The Gallery at the Regional Arts Commission
6128 Delmar Boulevard on The Loop
St. Louis, MO 63112
(Free parking in the lot behind The Pageant; metered street parking)
6128 Delmar Boulevard on The Loop
St. Louis, MO 63112
(Free parking in the lot behind The Pageant; metered street parking)
posted by Bill Barrett at 2:20 PM
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