As I stated in a previous post about African-American masters, I love me some North Carolina artists…
The Mint Museum of Art in Charlotte, NC is currently holding an exhibit for the renowned black artist and painter Lois Mailou Jones. The exhibit is entitled (appropriately enough) Lois Mailou Jones: A Life in Vibrant Color and runs until just about the end of next February (2010).
Technically, the late Ms Jones was not native to this state – she was born and grew up in Boston, MA. However, she did establish the arts department at the (now defunct) Palmer Memorial Institute near Greensboro.
If you read my previous article, you’ll know that I also will not pass up a chance to stock and to promote the products of any famous artist who has done this state proud. Our store’s Les Fetiches poster (”Les Fetiches,” in French, meaning spiritual/religious items or charms believed to possess special powers) is based on Lois Mailou Jones’ oil painting of the same name. That original work was created by her in 1938, and now resides in the Smithsonian American Art Museum (as you can see from the poster’s image).
For a bigger, better, and badder representation of Ms Jones’ Les Fetiches painting, as well as her other artwork, go to negro artist .(I really can’t recommend this site enough for lovers of African American art.) Since approximately 70 of her pieces will be exhibited at the Mint Museum, most, if not all, of the pictures at this website will likely be on display in Charlotte.
To hearken back to my past entry on black artists one more time, Lois Mailou Jones is coincidentally one of the feature artists being profiled in the Art of the Masters exhibit – which will be running concurrently in North Carolina (in Fayetteville) along with her aforementioned solo exhibit. And, as with Romare Bearden, if you’re worthy enough to be in the Masters exhibit, you’ve got to be in the (beware another Tarheel-based product shout, and a shameless plug) African American Masters Wall Calendar. In the additional image on that product page, see if you can spot the painting that is hers…