7 November MacGown work on display November 7, 2017 By Thomas, Donna S. General 0 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 color works. Admission is free, and the exhibit is open to the public. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, contact Shawn Whittington at (662) 862-8301 or email eswhittington@iccms.edu. Related Articles Joe A. MacGown exhibit now on display at ICC 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 ... ICC Student Art Competiton work on display through May 8 Itawamba Community College’s Student Art Competition is currently on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery at the Fulton Campus. Works judged include drawing, painting, design, ceramics and sculpture. The winners include Eduardo Moreno of Batesville, third, design, “Rest Area,” and honorable mention, design, “Malice;” Brady Edington of Calhoun City, second, ceramics, “Western Intellect,” and honorable mention, ceramics, “Old Skool;” Kylie Long of Eldridge, Ala., third, drawing, “Heart on Sleeve;” Reja Anderson of Eupora, honorable mention, painting, “Frosty Meadow;” Emily Tibbs of Fulton, second, painting, “Underwater Landscape;” Jude Taylor of Hamilton, first, ceramics, “War Pigs;” Ekkaleo Quartey of Jackson, second, drawing, “Myself;” Connor Wood of Jasper, Ala., first, sculpture, “Hare of the Hollow;” Raheim Blanchard of Okolona, honorable mention, drawing, “Dream 2;” Isaiah Pannell of Pontotoc, first, design, “Self portrait triptych” and honorable mention, ceramics, “Bamboo;” Layla Tutor of Pontotoc, third, sculpture, “Woven in Clay;” Noah Sartin of Saltillo, first, drawing, “Self-Portrait and third, painting, “Shadowlands;” Sydney Ladd of Tupelo, first, painting, “Lazy Day;” second, design, “Fall to Wonderland” and second, sculpture, “Mouse Attack;” Johnathan Calderon of ... Work of Victoria Cummings-Bobo now on display in ICC gallery The work of Victoria Cummings-Bobo is currently on display in the gallery of the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center at the Fulton Camps. The exhibition titled “Enchanted Child’s Dream,” which features a collection of oil, acrylic and mixed media pieces to commemorate Black History Month, will be on display until Mar. 31. Bobo’s work uses household items or something nature provides to tell colorful and vibrant stories. Her work ranges from miniature models, which reflect everyday people to vibrant paintings and statuesque colorful objects. She combines her art and her faith by using adorned mannequins to teach Sunday School classes at New Temple Baptist Church. Bobo’s love of the arts has included poetry, acting and playing the piano. After a time in New York City, she returned to Dorsey in 1987, and in 1988, Bobo and her sister, Dr. Ormella Cummings, formed We Amend Minds-By-Action, an organization devoted to introducing cultural activities and enrichment programs to young people and adults in Itawamba County and the surrounding area. She and her husband, Forrest, ... Work of Tanner South on display in the ICC Fulton Campus Gallery The work of Tanner South of Columbus will be on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center Gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus until Dec. 9. The exhibition entitled “Charm and Chaos: A Collective of Aesthetic Forms Through Decadent Textures” features mixed media paintings, prints and wall assemblages. South said that his work is “inspired by imagination and visionary forms. My paintings embody the textures, colors and nature of my own dreams, nightmares or subconscious renderings. I find it hard not to physically want to touch some of my paintings myself. It’s a sort of textile stimulation that I think I sort of feed into when I’m creating the heavier textured pieces.” South said that he doesn’t “let the orderly left-brain of my day job stop my right-brain from cathartically creating and making a mess in the studio. Whether it’s with multiple mediums at once or with shapes of upcycled treasures to use in conjunction with other forms, it’s always fun to push the limits of myself.” South works full-time ... Tom Douglas's work now on display at ICC Fine Arts Center gallery Recent works by Fulton resident Tom Douglas will be on display from Jan. 29-Feb. 22 in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus. The exhibition, which is entitled Pathos and Whimsy, includes landscapes of Shiloh National Battlefield, which is on the route to Douglas’s native home in Tennessee. His intent is for the work to document curiosity and layered investigation. Douglas was a member of ICC’s art faculty from 1983 until he retired in 2013. Gallery hours are from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. except on days that the college is closed. For more information, contact Shawn Whittington at eswhittington@iccms.edu or call (662) 862-8301. Work of 94-year-old Virginia Jackson, one of ICC's first students, currently on display in Fine Arts Center Gallery “The Gift of Life,” a collection of paintings by 94-year-old Virginia Jackson of Tupelo, is currently on display in the W.O. Benjamin Fine Arts Center Gallery at the Itawamba Community College Fulton Campus. The show includes Jackson’s acrylic paintings of landscapes and country scenes as well as two acrylic paintings by her granddaughter, Morgan Davis. Jackson’s first recollection of an interest in art was when she received a box of Crayola crayons at the age of five. She recalls coloring the embossed flowers on doilies (small napkins or decorative mats), but she didn’t start painting until the age of 91 when her daughter, Jill Jackson King, bought her a set of acrylic paints. She describes herself as self-taught and paints most scenes from memory. Most of her paintings are landscape scenes of farm life and “pretty flowers,” but she experiments with abstracts, also. She was born Virginia Anthony in 1929 in her family’s home outside of Tremont. Her father built their house and raised crops, cattle and hogs on their farm during the Great Depression. Growing up, she ... Comments are closed.