An exhibit opening in the West VirginiaUniversityCreativeArtsCenters Mesaros Galleries in November will include paintings by West Virginia native Michael Paxton.
Paxtons exhibit,”From Enoch to Strange Creek,”will be open Nov. 6-Dec. 7 in the Paul Mesaros Gallery.
In addition, Paxton will present a visiting artist lecture at the exhibit opening, Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 5 p.m. in the Choral Recital Hall (Room 200A) of the CreativeArtsCenter. A reception will follow in the main lobby.
Paxton is a native of West Virginia who currently lives in Chicago. His installation is comprised of a large suite of unstretched canvases and combines drawn and painted figurative elements. Over the past several years, Paxton has assembled a collection of his familys history meant to contrast with his life as a painter, performance artist, and writer in Chicago. He takes images from photographs, newspaper clippings, and memory to create an unofficial chronicle of his familys history, lived at the juncture of Clay, Braxton, and Nicholas counties in West Virginia.
According to WVU Professor of Painting Paul Krainak,”Paxtons reputation as an artist has been formed by his paintings and drawings of working people. His popular portraits of men and women laboring have consisted of uncanny glimpses into the solitary nature of demanding skilled and semi-skilled occupations.”
Krainak said Paxtons works are meant to be seen and read collectively.”Individual paintings like �€~Foreman/Shotgun/Woman Upstairsare enigmatic visual laundry lists of family, domestic animals, ordinary objects and neighbors that float in clouds of charcoal dust or turpentine washes, true to the spontaneous, incomplete entries of a sketchbook or a writers diary.”
Paxton received a bachelors degree in art from MarshallUniversity and his MFA in painting from the University of Georgia.
All Mesaros Galleries events, including art lectures, exhibitions and receptions are free and open to the public. Gallery hours are Noon to 9:30 p.m., Monday-Saturday. The galleries are closed Sundays and University holidays. Special individual or group viewing times may be arranged upon request.
For more information, call (304) 293-4841, ext. 3210, or ext. 3138.