| Manning, S.C.
native Tarleton Blackwell earned a Master of Fine Arts at the University of South Carolina, and is currently the Martha Beach Endowed Chair in Painting at UNC-Pembroke. The artist
has won a
lengthy list of awards and commissions during his career, including
the South Carolina Arts Commission's 1996-97 Individual Artist
Fellowship Award, and the 1994 Southern Arts Federation/National
Endowment for the Arts Regional Fellowship in Painting, Drawing and
Works on Paper.
His exhibitions appeared in over 170 museums and galleries
throughout the country, including the Charlotte Mint Museum, the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., and the Alternative Museum in New York. Past exhibitions include "Next Generation: Southern Black
Aesthetic," "Tarleton Blackwell: Great Showcase of
Hogs," "Sharing the Dream," "Statements of Heritage: Variant American
Visions," and "Conflict and Transcendence: African American Art in South
Carolina."
Pieces in this exhibition are part of
Blackwell's "The Hog Series," an ongoing project comprised
of over 250 works spanning 20 years. Heavily influenced by artist
Diego Velasquez, Blackwell invokes complex and ambiguous imagery using
the hog to represent many themes and symbols. The artist endeavors to
portray hogs with dignity and respect while revealing and sharing some
of his past personal experiences in the rural southeast.
|
"Hog Series CCXXVII: Miss Liberty and Washington"
Images used with permission of Tarleton
Blackwell.
|
