Bradbury features Talk by Bill Rowe and Special Guest Grif Stockley
JONESBORO – Bill Rowe will be a featured speaker at the Bradbury Art Museum, Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 4 p.m. This event is being held in conjunction with “Many Ways to Read a Map” -- an exhibition of neon and found object artwork by this Arkansas State University professor.
Featured in this show is a powerful and challenging piece, “Blood in their Eyes,” inspired by one of the most violent racial encounters in Arkansas history. The artwork derives its title from Grif Stockley’s book, “Blood in their Eyes: The Elaine Race Massacres of 1919,” a non-fictional account of this dreadful event. His book details the horrific and largely overlooked story of the history of the Elaine, Arkansas, massacre.
According to Stockley, a longtime scholar of these riots, “The Elaine massacre was by far the deadliest racial confrontation in Arkansas history and possibly the bloodiest racial conflict in the history of the United States.” Stockley will be a special guest speaker and will join Rowe to discuss his artwork and the history of this event.
Rowe will also comment on his more comical yet thought-provoking works that make reference to the sights, signs and situations he has found in his travels throughout Arkansas and across the country. His artworks are most often an amusing take on his surroundings, or a stark reminder of the grittier underbelly of the world, filtered through his own unique sense of humor and place.
Examples of Rowe’s work can also be seen in the “2015 Faculty Biennial” which includes painting, sculpture, prints, installation, video and more from faculty members of the A-State Department of Art. Both exhibitions will run simultaneously and close on Nov. 11.
Bradbury Art Museum hours are noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 2 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, and by appointment. The museum is closed on Mondays.
Both exhibitions and the museum talk are admission-free and open to the public. For more details, contact BAM at 870-972-3471, by email at bradburyartmuseum@astate.edu, or visit the website, BradburyArtMuseum.org.
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