The October meeting of the Vicksburg Art Association is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14, 2003, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the historic Old Constitution Firehouse at the corner of Main and Openwood in Downtown Vicksburg.
The topic of this meeting is The River Project – inspired by George Ohr.
Keith Alford, David Lambert and Vidal Blankenstein present works inspired by the Tchoutacabouffa River where George Ohr gathered clay for his pots. There will be a slide presentation. These artists exhibited at the George Ohr Museum in Biloxi in 2002.
Constance Keith Alford
Alford graduated in 1965 from Randolph-Macon Women’s College and received the M.A. (1967) and M.F.A. (1972) from the University of Mississippi where she also taught for six years.
She was a Fulbright-Hays Exchange Teacher in Manchester, England, in 1972-73 and professor of art and humanities at Alcorn State University for twenty-one years. She is a long-time member of the Mississippi Art Colony and has exhibited widely throughout the state at the MS Museum of Art, the Meridian Museum, the Lauren Rogers Museum, and the Mississippi Pavilion at the 1984 World’s Fair in New Orleans.
She lives in Port Gibson and works mainly as a painter, venturing into clay sculpture and print making on a seasonal basis. She won the 2001 Sesquicentennial Art Competition at St. Peter’s Church, Oxford, MS. In 2002, she was invited to participate in ‘The River Project’ at the Ohr-O’Keefe Museum in Biloxi. In 2003, she initiated and curated the Port Gibson Bicentennial Invitational Exhibit with funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission and the City of Port Gibson.
She has shown her work in nationwide competitions and invitationals at Appalachian State University, Boone, N.C., and Marietta College in Ohio. She has had solo exhibits at the Buie Museum in Oxford, Northeast Louisiana University, Randolph-Macon Woman’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia, Jones Community College and Gulf Coast Community College. Her paintings are in many private collections as well as the R-MWC Collection of American Art, Maier Museum, Lynchburg, Virginia, and Trustmark Bank and the Peat Marwick Collection in Jackson.
David Lambert
For over 25 years, Lambert has lived and painted in Mississippi. The state's rich literary legacy has enriched his paintings by giving him an acute appreciation for the power of "narrative" both verbal and visual.
Through use of black undertones and outlines, Lambert spins ordinary objects into exaggerated narratives. At first glance these ordinary objects appear somewhat playful and cartoon-like, creating a gamut of emotions in the viewer from smiles and "warm fuzzies" to an eerie feeling that leaves their complex meaning up for interpretation. These paintings and sculpture are independent objects and at the same time a part of a larger whole. They have a past, a visual family tree by which you can trace the story of their influences. Lambert's work is about one's personal need to participate in the exploration, questioning, discovery and amazement of everyday life and survival.
Lambert's paintings are unmistakable in their use of bright primary colors, bold outlines and funhouse perspectives. His painting surface is also distinctive in that he works on wood, which still possesses its individual textural quality. The texture of the wood surface and his composition and subject matter meld to create unique visual experiences.
Lambert’s art has been exhibited around the country and in museums and art centers such as the Mississippi Museum of Art, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis Center for Contemporary Art, George E. Ohr Art Center and the Meridian Museum of Art. His paintings are also in the collections of the Morris Museum of Art (Augusta, GA) and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art (New Orleans.)
Museum Collections
Morris Museum of Art, Augusta, GA
Ogden Museum of Southern Art, New Orleans, LA
Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, Biloxi, MS
Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS
Delta State University, Cleveland, MS
Museum and Art Center Exhibitions
2002 Meridian International Center, “True Colors: Meditations on the American Spirit,” group exhibition, Washington, DC, New York, NY, Atlanta, GA, Instanbul and Ankara, Turkey
2002 Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art, “The River Project,”
Eight-person group exhibition, Biloxi, MS
2002 Meridian Museum of Art, one person exhibition, Meridian, MS
2000 Meridian Museum of Art Small Works Invitational, Meridian, MS
1999 Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art Fall Show, Biloxi, MS
1998 Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art Fall Show, Biloxi, MS
1997 Mississippi Museum of Art Invitational, Jackson, MS
1995 Domestic Disturbance, group exhibition,
Delta Axis Contemporary Arts Center, Memphis, TN
1992 Brooks Biennial Exhibition, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN
1992 Art and the Law, nationally touring exhibition sponsored by
West Publishing Company
1990 Mid/Year Exhibition/Part One, group Exhibition,
Memphis Center for Contemporary Art
Exhibitions
2003 “Retrospective 1983 – 2003” Delta State University, Cleveland, MS
2001 “Household Objects” One person exhibition, Bryant Galleries, Jackson, MS
2000 One Person Exhibition, Southside Gallery, Oxford, MS
2000 One Person Exhibition, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
1998 More Than a Glance, group exhibition, Blue Spiral 1, Asheville, NC
1998 One Person Exhibition, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
1998 25th Annual Bi-State Exhibition, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS
1997 Images, one person exhibit, Bryant Galleries, Jackson, MS
1997 Atlanta Collects – Contemporary Southern Art from Atlanta Collections, ArtWalk, Atlanta, GA
1996 Pop Goes the Icon, Group exhibit, ArtWalk, Atlanta, GA
1996 One Person Exhibition, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
1994 Salon International, juried exhibition – Daniel Greene, Juror,
Mississippi Arts Complex, Jackson, MS
1994 One Person Exhibition, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
1993 Three Person Exhibition, Bryant Galleries, Jackson, MS
1993 Spotlight on Georgia Artists XII, group exhibition, Atlanta, GA
1992 One Person Exhibition, Working Space Gallery, Memphis, TN
1992 One Person Exhibition, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
1992 Seattle Art Expo, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
1991 Small Sculpture Show, Robischon Gallery, Denver, CO
1991 18th Annual Bi-State Exhibition, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS
1990 Two Person Exhibition, LeMieux Galleries, New Orleans, LA
1988 Group Exhibition, 121 Millsaps Avenue Gallery, Jackson, MS
1988 15th Annual Bi-State Exhibition, Meridian Museum of Art, Meridian, MS
1988 Collages and Paintings, One Person Exhibit,
Chimneyville School of Crafts and Design, Jackson, MS
1987 Fifth Annual Maine, Maritime Flatworks Exhibition,
University of Maine, Presque Isle, ME
1987 Ninth Annual Mississippi Juried Exhibition, Hattiesburg, MS
1986 Eighth Annual Mississippi Juried Exhibition, Hattiesburg, MS
Awards and Recognition
2001 Mississippi Arts Commission Fellowship Recipient
1998 Achievement Award, 25th Annual Bi-State Exhibition, Meridian Museum of Art
1997 Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Visual Arts Award nominee
1995 Mississippi Arts Commission Fellowship Recipient
1989 Awards in the Visual Arts, National artist award Nominee, sponsored by
Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
Vidal Blankenstein
A strong sense of drama is evident in Blankenstein's work, as she weaves figures and objects in and out of lightness and darkness with energetic brushstrokes. Evoking a contemplative mood, the paintings on board and paper explore the relationship between emotional and physical environments. Lambert describes Blankenstein's work as "southern gothic internal narrative."
Lambert and Blankenstein's paintings complement each other well. While the artists retain separate styles, Lambert commented that they share "a strong love of narrative." Blankenstein believes her appreciation for a story well told comes from her background in Natchez. Lambert credits his childhood fascination with comic books reinforced by his moving to Mississippi where he "got a healthy dose of what story telling really was."
Blankenstein's work is represented in permanent museum collections of the Ohr-Okeefe and Meridian Museum of Art. Her work has been shown in galleries and museums including The National Arts Club in New York City, the Arkansas Arts Center and New Orleans Contemporary Arts Center.
The Vicksburg Art Association meets monthly and offers Spring and Fall Exhibitions, workshops, and Youth Exhibitions. Most meetings are held in the historic Constitution Firehouse.
There is no charge for attendance at the meetings and the public is encouraged to attend. For more information, call 638-9221 or visit the website www.vaa.web.com.
posted by Daniel at 7:46 PM
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