Friday, July 20, 2012

Visions from a Visionary

What would happen if we as a society made it more of a habit to follow true visionaries?  Dictionary.com defines a visionary as "given to or characterized by fanciful, not presently workable, or unpractical ideas, views, or schemes."  Could we make an effort to make unpractical ideas into practical ones? 

A number of years ago a mural emerged on a two-story building on Fortification St. in the Belhaven neighborhood of Jackson.  It was the talk of the town.  Some people were outraged, others were enthused.  It was a unique montage of Southwestern and Native American style imagery gradually covering the entire south and west sides of the building.  One of the most impressive images in the mural was a Native American face stretching the entire two stories on the west facade.  Unfortunately, that side was painted over.  The south facade mural remains.  The mural was painted by a local excentric artist named Patrick Grogan whom I believe was living in the building at the time.

As voices were heard complaining that Belhaven is an historic district and that the mural shouldn't be allowed I wondered what would happen if we followed Patrick's lead.  What if the neighborhood embraced and even encouraged the idea of artists painting murals on the facades of Fortification properties, most of which needed face lifts anyway? That with the upcoming revitalization of Fortification St. could turn that area into an international tourist destination.  Can you envision it?

Many years have passed since the mural was done, but Patrick has not stopped painting.  There was recently an extensive exhibition of his work at the MS Arts Center.   A majority of the work followed the Southwestern aesthetic of the mural.  It is at the same time bizarre, beautiful and intriguing. 

His work was showing at the same time as two other young painters, Greg Gandy who works at the North Midtown Arts Center, and Tristan Barlow.  Their work complemented each other's well but was not helped by the deteriorating conditions of the MS Arts Center galleries. 

Here is a small sampling of the work...

Greg Gandy
"Woman"


Greg Gandy
"Clippin a Leaf"


Greg Gandy
"Sad Friends"


Patrick Grogan
House on Fortification St.


Patrick Grogan
untitled


Patrick Grogan
"Hawk"


Patrick Grogan
"Full Spread"


Patrick Grogan
"Jesus in the Sky with Diamonds"


Patrick Grogan
untitled


Tristan Barlow
"Saint"


Tristan Barlow
"Still life"