A Unique Slant of Light: The Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana - (Page 5)

MODERNITY APPROACHES As the twentieth-century beckoned, the art of Louisiana was already beginning to evolve toward modernity under the dual influence of international styles of art and an increasing involvement of the United States in the affairs of the world, in eventually what was dubbed the American Century. The signal and transformational role of the Woodward brothers, William and Ellsworth, at the turn of the century and well into it, would have been remarkable for any artistic community in the world. Similarly, the increasing cultural magnet of the bohemian French Quarter would inform the quality and aesthetic not only of the art its denizens produced, but of the character of the city of New Orleans as the world would conceive of it for the next century. Perhaps the most unlikely source of artistic transformation was occasioned by the relentless chauvinism and artistic patronage of Governor Huey Pierce Long, whose new State Capitol building became the embodiment of the aesthetic power of the moment, demonstrating in literally monumental ways the power of art to embody a culture, a people, and a place. In an enduring counterpoint to the power and glory assembled in Baton Rouge, itself in the shadow of the burgeoning petro-chemical corridor, such artists as Clementine Hunter created her own body of monumental work in such locales as the gentler and more rural environs of Cane River. For all the accomplishment of the previous periods, the last half-century has seen a burgeoning of the number of artists in unprecedented numbers. The catalogue of artists for this period dramatically overshadows in sheer numbers the others combined. No doubt the future will sort out their ultimate influence and importance, as we ourselves have those of preceding centuries, but for now their work is vital and expressive of the times. Our idiosyncratic Louisiana culture is powerfully expressed in the work of native-born sons as diverse as Francis Pavy, who imbeds his works with iconic images and symbols from the French parishes, and John Scott, known for his churning woodcuts of street scenes and whose work also thrums to the rhythmic plucked tones of the African diddly-bow, a visual referent in so many of his kinetic sculptures. The graceful and soaring sculptures of Lin Emery have transcended Louisiana itself and now populate and influence the art of the world. There is so much more to Louisiana culture and geography and the forms of its expression, but one cannot close without mentioning that in the open grassy plains and cheniers of Southwest Louisiana, a different dimension of Louisiana is to be found; no artist captures this landscape more eloquently than Elemore Morgan, Jr., with his wide plein air paintings that compel the eye off into the peripheries. In truth, the times have indeed changed. In contrast to the late nineteenth century, contemporary artists look to the tragedies of the moment to inform their work, much as Australian transplant Simon Gunning has accomplished with his rendering of the iconic blue bridge reaching into the Lower Ninth Ward following the ravages of Hurricane Katrina. Louisiana is barely part of the continent to which it adheres, but its art—spanning the two centuries of its admission into the Union, and the preceding century of colonization—both captures and transcends its moment. The full panoply of this work is an unprecedented wonder to behold, and seen in a truly unique slant of light. INTRODUCTION 5  http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=1146 http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=997 http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=530 http://knowla.org/entry.php?rec=529 http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=1199 http://knowla.org/entry.php?rec=1124 http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=1270 http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=1270 http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=446

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A Unique Slant of Light: The Bicentennial History of Art in Louisiana

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