The Butler Center’s Concordia Hall, the gallery that fronts Clinton, has a great show right now, by Melverue Abraham, Rex Deloney, LaToya Hobbs, Ariston Jacks, Sondra Strong, Kalari Turner, and Michael Worsham, all African-American artists who are members of Visual Images that Affect Lives (V.I.T.A.L.).
ckout giant woodcut-imaged portraits are here, Abraham has her loving work, including an experimental piece made of roofing material
I couldn’t take a decent picture of Jack’s triptych “Capitalism Over Tradition” (1773), (2009) and (1887), but it’s quite a masterpiece, combining images of black women and symbols of American wealth — Ben Franklin, etc. Rex Delony’s oils and watercolor are strong as ever, scenes of family. Kalari Turner has two collages — again, couldn’t get a good shot of them! — of silhouetted women, very neatly done. Hobbs’ knoand quite interesting. Strong uses heavily black-lined and near cartoon-like images to portray women and children (though she shies from faces, something she needs to just jump in and do). Michael Worsham’s off-kilter compositions and child close-ups are terrific.
So go. And when you do, check out the exhibit in the Atrium, work by Robin Tucker. (More on that later).