Bentley Bryant

JOUR 271

Art Exhibit Review

Two Artists, One World

To many audiences, art is constantly changing and becoming evolved into new eras. For southerners, there is more heart and soul put into their pieces. They grab their inspiration from their roots and lay it out onto their artwork. For John Alexander and Walter Anderson, this is still true.

The two artists, both born below the Mason Dixon line, collaborated their pieces into one show. Their goal for their exhibition is to show the coastal roots of their culture, and also to inspire new and upcoming artist. The University of Mississippi is proud to be hosting their show until December 3.

When asked a student of Ole Miss, Carrie Seale, about the exhibition and why she attended, she replied,”

“I’m from Alabama, and the coast of Mississippi and Louisiana go through to my state too. We have heard of their work, but it is nice to see them come to a college campus to help students become encouraged.”

Alexander hails from a coastal part of Texas, and is constantly inspired by the Cajun aspects of the south. Anderson calls New Orleans his home, also being stimulated by the Cajun accents of the coastal lifestyle. Nowhere else will one see pieces of artwork that are brilliantly colored and motivated by the creatures of the beaches and waters.

In the top picture within the link, the main object depicted is a sea bird, yet it is created in two different ways. It shows the meaning of the exhibit as a whole. Two different artists coming together with the same inspiration, but twisting it into their own styles and calling them their own.

http://museum.olemiss.edu/2011/08/one-world-two-artists/

“Some people travel through the landscape and have some fantasy vision, and that’s fine, but some artists work directly from study. We both come from that tradition.”

-John Alexander

The encouragement from the hometown fans for both of these artists help them to keep stimulating the new generations with their work. The way that their pieces are displayed not only helped give hope for the years to come, but creates incentives to keep going to make the coast stronger.