12.11.09

MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART, GEORGIA PRESENTS RESPONSE AND MEMORY: THE ART OF BEVERLY BUCHANAN


'RESPONSE AND MEMORY: THE ART OF BEVERLY BUCHANAN', A SELECTION OF BOLD, COLOURFUL, AND EXPRESSIVE DRAWINGS AND SCULPTURES BY THE LEADING CONTEMPORARY ARTIST, OPENS TO THE PUBLIC 21.NOVEMBER.2009, AT THE MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART, AUGUSTA, GEORGIA. ORGANIZED BY THE ASHEVILLE ART MUSEUM FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF ANN AND TED OLIVER, THE EXHIBITION REMAINS ON VIEW THROUGH 31.JANUARY.2010. "THROUGH HER CONTINUED EXPLORATION OF THE VERNACULAR ARCHITECTURE OF THE SOUTH, BEVERLY BUCHANAN HAS CREATED RICHLY EXPRESSIVE WORKS OF ART THAT SYMBOLIZE COMMUNITY AND THE ENERGY AND IMAGINATION THAT ARE REQUIRED TO SUSTAIN IT. SHE IS A GREAT STORY TELLER, AND, IMPLICIT IN HER WORK, LIE THE STORIES BEHIND THE RURAL SHARECROPPER SHACKS SHE DEPICTS . . ." SAID KEVIN GROGAN , DIRECTOR OF THE MORRIS MUSEUM OF ART.
BEVERLY BUCHANAN, BORN IN 1940 IN FUQUAY, NORTH CAROLINA, WAS RAISED IN ORANGEBURG, SOUTH CAROLINA, ON THE CAMPUS OF SOUTH CAROLINA STATE COLLAGE, WHERE HER FATHER WAS DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF AGRICULTURE. ARMED WITH DEGREES IN MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY, PARASITOLOGY, AND PUBLIC HEALTH FROM THE BENNETT COLLEGE AND COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, SHE WAS A MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIST FOR THE VETERANS ADMINISTRATION IN THE BRONX AND THEN A HEALTH DIRECTOR FOR THE EAST ORANGE NEW YORK HEALTH DEPARTMENT. IN 1971 SHE ATTENDED ART CLASSES AT THE ART STUDENTS LEAGUE, WHERE SHE STUDIED WITH NORMAN LEWIS AND DURING THE 70s, ROMARE BEARDEN BECAME A PARTICULARLY IMPORTANT FRIEND AND MENTOR. IN 1971 BUCHANAN MOVED TO MACON, GEORGIA, TO DEVOTE HER FULL TIME AND ATTENTION TO ART. BUCHANAN'S EARLY SCULPTURES DEMONSTRATE AN INNATE INTEREST IN THE ARCHITECTURE OF POVERTY. MADE OF CAST CONCRETE, CLAY, PIGMENT, AND OTHER MATERIALS, THESE PRIMEVAL, BLOCKLIKE FORMS CONVEYED A SENSE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RUIN AND MYSTERY. BUCHANAN'S ART GRADUALLY EVOLVED FROM THE ABSTRACT, ORGANIC FORMS INTO THE EXPRESSIONISTIC, REPRESENTATIONAL WORKS SHE EXECUTES TODAY. HER SCULPTURES ARE BASED, IN PART, ON THE SHARECROPPER SHACKS THAT CAN BE FOUND ALONG THE BACK ROADS OF THE RURAL SOUTH THAT SHE WITNESSED WHILE TRAVELING WITH HERE FATHER. BUCHANAN'S SCULPTURE AND DRAWINGS CHALLENGE THE ICONS OF HOPELESSNESS; THEY ARE ELEGIES THAT SALUTE THE INTEGRITY, RESILIENCE, AND RESOLUTION OF HUMANITY.

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