(TUSCALOOSA, Ala.) The Arts Council of Tuscaloosa will host “Gary Chapman: NOIR” in The Arts Council Gallery at the Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center Oct. 4 – Nov. 21, 2024. Featuring works by Chapman, Artist/Professor of Painting and Drawing at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the exhibit will open on Oct. 4th at 5 p.m. during the free First Friday Art Walk in downtown Tuscaloosa. Gallery hours are weekdays from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. and admission is free.
The exhibit will be composed of ten pieces from “NOIR: The Series” and five works from “The Firmament: Falling, Floating, Flying.” Chapman sites Black as being a fundamental interest of artists throughout history and references such artists as Juan Sanchez Cotan, Edouard Manet, Kazimir Malevich, Louise Nevelson and Anish Kapoor as clear examples.
In reference to the remaining pieces in the display from the collection “The FIRMAMENT: Falling Floating Flying,” Chapman referenced a quote by author Stewart Stafford to describe the collection. “Nature, with its paradoxical twin firmaments of breathtaking beauty and extreme cruelty, never explains itself and cares even less for our admiration and acceptance.”
Chapman has had over 80 solo exhibitions with institutions such as The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, The Arts Center of St. Petersburg, FL, University of Cincinnati and the Indianapolis Art Center. He has also participated in numerous group and invitational exhibitions with regional, national and international venues. Chapman was named a Joan Mitchell CALL Legacy Artist in 2013 and has received numerous grants and fellowships, including a 1996 National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Painting from the Southern Arts Federation. He was granted two Individual Artist Fellowships from the Alabama State Council on the Arts in 2002 and 1994. Fourteen of Chapman’s paintings have been purchased for the collections of ten museums in the southeast region as well as by many corporate and private collections throughout the country.
The artist received the MFA from the Cranbrook Academy of Art and the BA and BS from Berea College. For more information about the exhibit and Chapman’s commentary, visit https://tuscarts.org/cac/galleries-venues/cac-gallery/. Visit the artist’s website at https://www.garychapmanart.com/ for more information.
Gallery hours are weekdays 9 a.m.- noon and 1-4 p.m. For more information about all gallery events taking place on First Friday and the locations, visit www.firstfridaytuscaloosa.com.
The Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center is located at 620 Greensboro Avenue in downtown Tuscaloosa. For more information about The Arts Council or Bama Theatre, patrons should follow and like “The Arts Council – Bama Theatre – Cultural Arts Center” on Facebook and Instagram @tuscaloosaartscouncil. Call 205-758-5195 or visit tuscarts.org for further information.