Artbeat

Exhibit dives deep into life's mystery

Possession Day Blues
Possession Day Blues

Artist Neal Harrington and sculptor David Carpenter draw upon, and evoke, a sense of mystery in their exhibit at Historic Arkansas Museum.

Harrington, on the art faculty at Arkansas Tech University at Russellville, is a two-time winner of the Delta Award at the Arkansas Arts Center's annual Delta Exhibition. His potent and energetic woodcuts (some with ink washes) often display storytelling at its best: multi-layered tales that invite participation and embellishment as they stimulate the imagination and, in some cases, raise the hairs on the back of one's neck.

While a number of these pieces have been shown before, they are no less compelling. We start to see things we missed the first, or second time. Snake Shaker's Shack, a Delta Award winner in 2013, almost feels like the return of a wild memory. You might wonder: "Did I dream that?" So does Delta Oracle, in which a female spirit rises and a startled man is thrown to the ground.

Therein lies some of the fascination of this work: A dream? Ancestral memory? Southern Gothic? Swamp-and-moonshine-fueled hallucinations or real-time experiences? The woodcuts suggest family history and whispered speculations that are imbued by haints, spirits, moonshine, swamp folklore, primal fears and magic as it revels in the rural mysteries that are threaded into the fabric of rural culture.

Harrington taps into an artistic richness and emotional depth expressed by artists such as Thomas Hart Benton and Arkansas' Charles Banks Wilson; maybe even hints of Rockwell Kent. While most works seem rooted in rural and Southern folklore, there are other inspirations, such as classical mythology (Europa).

Harrington's recent work elaborates on these themes, including his 2015 Delta Award winner Feather Signal.

In the Pines shows a woman holding a man who has passed out or fallen asleep after drinking, with a fish ready to go over the fire on a wooden spit. A lantern hangs on a tree branch; the woman looks sad; no doubt she has seen him in this shape before.

Possession Day Blues evokes a story similar to that of Robert Johnson, the pioneering Delta bluesman. Legend has it that he sold his soul to the devil. In Harrington's woodcut, the day of reckoning has arrived.

Carpenter, of Little Rock, teaches at Pulaski Technical College and has five mixed-media sculptures. The titles of his constructions can stimulate reflection and thought.

Everything Is Flat flows and ripples with wood-grain texture. It's Never Tomorrow is especially evocative as a title, since we live in the present.

An Island of Our Own Creation suggests, in a sense, fantasy paintings of artists such as Roger Dean, who painted the floating islands on the cover of albums by Yes and Asia. But this snow-topped island doesn't "float," it is impaled by the rods of its stand. The 84-by-26-by-22-inch work seems to imply that if we think we've created an island to isolate ourselves, physically or emotionally, we've deluded ourselves.

Also at the museum: Time is running out for "Suggin Territory: The Marvelous World of Folklorist Josephine Graham." The show, which closes Sunday, has several works by the Newport native.

Graham Brothers, an oil on masonite, taps into the flat look that typifies many of Carroll Cloar's works. The vivid and lively Decoration Day is closer to the folk art of say, Grandma Moses than Cloar.

Neal Harrington and David Carpenter, through Feb. 7, Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1-5 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $2.50, ages 65 and over $1.50, children 17 and under $1. Info: historicarkansas.org, (501) 324-9351.

...

John Deering, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette's editorial cartoonist, has returned to one of his favorite themes as a painter and sculptor -- Arkansas history.

"In Arkansas Territory," his latest exhibit, hangs at Cantrell Gallery through Dec. 24.

At his 2014 show, Deering's canvases revealed a warm, romantic realism and a greater emotional depth. Those sensibilities have manifested in this new set of Arkansas history-themed and inspired works.

Deering presents his take on a historic icon -- The Arkansas Traveler. It is a joyful treatment all his own. Osage Lookouts on the Arkansas River and Council of the Pines have an intelligence that takes them beyond historic depictions and warmth.

His paintings of women are especially strong and emotionally direct. In Whippoorwill, a woman, wrapped in a blanket, sits in a chair on the porch. A dog is at her feet. The melancholy, reflective work has a sense of timelessness. Worry also informs Nightwatch, in which a woman stands at an open door, lantern in hand, waiting for someone to come home -- someone who maybe should have already arrived.

But at any Deering exhibit, there is room for a little fantasy. Home by First Light is a sylvan forest scene dominated by an owl, wings outstretched, flying toward the viewer, as though coming in for a landing. The trees in the background are shrouded in mist, so this owl could be mystical or real ... it's a touch of mystery in a magical, naturalistic setting.

There also are sculptures, including two of Cherokee leader Stand Watie and a bust of a horse head titled Something in the Wind.

"In Arkansas Territory," through Dec. 24, Cantrell Gallery, 8206 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Info: cantrellgallery.com, (501) 224-1335.

BRIEFLY ...

• In September, Virmarie DePoyster became the first Arkansas artist to have a solo exhibition at the U.S. Embassy in Rome. The artist's pastel and mixed-media works have returned home and comprise a new exhibition to open Dec. 3 at Argenta Gallery in North Little Rock. A reception will be held 6-8 p.m. Dec. 3.

DePoyster, who has shown at Boswell Mourot Fine Art and the Arkansas Arts Center, teaches at the Arts Center's Museum School.

"Revelation" will feature 18 works that explore spirituality and identity, and our relationship with nature. The exhibition hangs through Jan. 4. Info: (501) 912-6567.

Email:

ewidner@arkansasonline.com

Style on 11/24/2015

Upcoming Events