8 April Joe A. MacGown exhibit now on display at ICC April 8, 2024 By Thomas, Donna S. General 0 A collection of 17 works by Starkville artist Joe A. MacGown is currently on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus. MacGown’s attention to detail and endless imagination are on full display in a show he titles “Stuff Seen Out of the Corners of My Eyes.” “My art ranges widely from paintings of flowers and insects to chaotic and highly detailed surreal drawings and mixed media pieces,” MacGown said. “My background in entomology and natural history, coupled with my love of science fiction and cynicism, provide endless inspiration for my surreal visions, which range from dark and foreboding to light and whimsical.” Recent pieces focus on archetypal gods and goddesses, hypothetical beings from other dimensions and other magical beings. Using imaginative imagery and random patterns, MacGown creates his detailed drawings and mixed media paintings by allowing ideas to “flow out of his head” using a method he describes as “Subconscious Meandering.” He uses a wide variety of media, but most of his art is done with inks from bottles and pens on different surfaces, especially primed or clay coated wood. MacGown said that in some cases, to properly build depth, long hours of work are needed to finish these drawings, with 400 hours or more for some works to be completed. In addition to creating art, he has established the MacGown Art Retreat and Studio just outside of Starkville to share space and creativity with others. The project includes an artist in residence program that allows up to four artists per year to stay in the “Art House” and create art for two-to-four-week periods. Artists receive a stipend funded by a local arts organization, the Del Rendon Foundation, the Mississippi Arts Commission and other sources. The exhibition will be on display until May 2. Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday, and admission is free. For more information, contact Shawn Whittington at eswhittington@iccms.edu or (662) 862-8301. Related Articles MacGown work on display The work of Joe MacGown of Starkville, researcher/scientific illustrator for the Mississippi Entomological Museum since 1988, will be on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus through Dec. 6. A reception for the artist is scheduled for 2 p.m., Dec. 6, in the gallery. In 1964, MacGown was born in Maine, where he lived until his family moved to Mississippi when he was 10. MacGown spent many of his young days in Maine collecting insects, exploring the woods and drawing everything he could see, including many images that no one ever sees. When he moved to Mississippi, his interest in art and nature continued. After graduating from high school, MacGown attended the Memphis College of Art. He also worked the night shift at a local grocery and did some freelance artwork on the side for the next few years. For the last 20 years, MacGown has continued to develop his own surrealistic drawing style, which he calls “Neogothic Surrealism” or “Subconscious Meandering.” He predominantly works in black ink, but he also does mixed media ... "Red, White, and You" currently on display in ICC gallery Now through Dec. 4, Itawamba Community College will host “Red, White, and You,” an exhibition of the work of Jackson artist Ming Donkey in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery on the Fulton Campus. The exhibit is a multi-media installation combining wall hangings, video and audio media. In the artist’s words, “Red, White and You” offers a visual exploration of contemporary capitalism’s impact on community and identity in America. The title references the American flag, symbolizing freedom and liberty, while reflecting on the ways emotions are manipulated and desires manufactured in our society. In a world increasingly divided into opposing factions, we find ourselves grappling with a growing sense of disconnection and alienation.” According to the artist, the core of this exhibit is Ming’s worker character, an “everyman” avatar representing the nameless individuals who collectively seek their own version of Niagara – a metaphor for escape from our current realities, pursued by any means necessary. This figure highlights the excesses of a capitalistic culture and evokes Huxley’s notion of ‘soma,’ a distraction many embrace in their relentless search ... ICC exhibit features work of Tupelo's Armas “In Search of (Im)possibilities: Persistence,” which features the colorful, symbolic and expressionistic paintings of Eyevan Armas of Tupelo, is currently on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus. Armas, a self-taught, 29-year-old artist originally from Guadalajara, has been featured in countless underground “Secret Art Shows” in his hometown, and recently he had a month-long exhibit at ‘The Shop Downtown’ in Hattiesburg. His paintings have been displayed at locally-owned businesses such as Vanelli’s, Gabriel’s and the Thirsty Devil. Some of his biggest accomplishments include being published not only in DIME magazine but also as the illustrator of “The Great Building” written by Voz Vanelli. Armas’ current projects include exploring videography with his infamous “box head” characters, continuing to learn and grow as an artist and helping his works find loving homes. “In Search of (Im)possibilities: Persistence” will be on display through Nov. 2, when a closing reception is scheduled in honor of Armas from 2-5 p.m. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through ... Work of former ICC art instructor Greely Myatt featured in new exhibit at ICC Gallery The work of West Memphis artist and former Itawamba Community College instructor Greely Myatt will be on display through February 27 at the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Gallery at the Fulton Campus. “Defying Gravity on an Airport Carpet in Watermelon Sugar” is an exhibition of sculptures made from various materials and using varying approaches – an exploration of intersecting narratives, where literature, music and the mundane converge to reveal my view/experience of the world, Myatt said. The works draw inspiration from the whimsical and surreal novels of Richard Brautigan, the poignant and tender lyrics of Jesse Winchester’s song, Defying Gravity, and the abstract yet deeply familiar patterns of airport carpets. According to Myatt, Brautigan’s writing, with its dreamlike quality and moments of absurdity, provides a lens through which the world can be viewed as both fleeting and profound. Similarly, Winchester’s Defying Gravity captures a yearning to escape, to transcend limitations and to embrace the weightlessness of possibility with a shy humor. Each piece is an invitation to pause and reflect, to consider how the ephemeral moments of ... Art exhibit “Places and People We Love: An Artists Private Collection” by Dot Courson of Pontotoc and her daughter, Susan Patton of Bruce, is currently on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus. The exhibit, which will run until Sept. 22, includes paintings in Courson’s personal collection. The mother and daughter work as full-time artists, but in slightly different genres. Patton paints portraits and figures, and Courson’s specialty is landscapes. Occasionally both paint figures, still life and landscapes. The collection shows the family, past generations of people and familiar places that the artists love, and all of its paintings are contemporary realism or representational works. Mediums are oil, acrylics and watercolors. Patton paints her Mississippi heritage in her works depicting people in the landscape near her home, and her mother has acquired several of these. Courson holds dear the work she has done due to the subject matter: disappearing landscapes from her childhood, her grandchildren’s playgrounds, some of the children at play or plein air paintings from time spent with special artist friends. Courson ... Summerford work on display in ICC Gallery The watercolor paintings of Fulton artist Laura Summerford will be on display through Dec. 7 at the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus. Entitled “Southern Rust and Decay,” the exhibit includes 24 paintings featuring familiar Southern icons and images of the city of Fulton. “I was born into a family of artistic ability,” Summerford said. “My parents were very creative and nurtured that spirit in my brother and me. This atmosphere helped to mold my future in the art field. From the time that I picked up my favorite red crayon, I was hooked. I would have rather draw and color than anything else.” Summerford began to watercolor while majoring in graphic art at ICC. “The softness of the medium mesmerized me over the harshness that oils and acrylics possess. I had an instant love for watercolors. While continuing her studies at Mississippi University for Women, she found watercolors to be her choice medium. “The light washes allow for many layers of color to show through ... Comments are closed.