By Jonathan Burger, Craven Arts Council & Gallery, Inc.
Where are you from and how did you end up in eastern NC?
I was born in Findlay, Ohio and educated in the Midwest. After graduate school, I was hired by the Department of Art at Mississippi State University. I served there 18 years, 9 as Professor and 9 as Department Head. In 1991, I came to the School of Art at East Carolina University as Dean. During my 21 years at ECU, I served as a professor and in numerous administrative roles. In 2012, my wife Susan and I retired to Minnesott Beach, NC.
You have a new exhibition at Bank of the Arts, can you talk about its theme and what it’s about?
“The Alzheimer’s Fantasies “ are a group of 30 drawings and prints that act as a visual conversation to myself while caregiving for my wife.
Does your work have one overarching theme, or several themes?
Upon leaving graduate school, I really didn’t have a distinct style or direction. Living and teaching in Mississippi changed that. I was inspired by Mississippi writers such as Eudora Welty, Walker Percy, William Faulkner, Tennessee Williams and Beth Henley. They wrote about the way they lived and what they experienced. I took that principle to heart and followed its path.
There have been three major themes in my 50 year career. The longest and, perhaps, most important was the “Beauty Salon Series”. This ran from 1976 to 2010.
You were a professor and head of the School of Art at East Carolina University at one time, what relationship do you see between teaching and your own artistic practice?
Teaching keeps an artist close to the creative awakening. Students keep you fresh and alert.
You work in a variety of mediums, do you have a favorite, and why or why not?
My favorite media are watercolor and ink. I enjoy the fact that there is little room for error and they cannot be corrected.
In there another artist whose work inspires you or you admire?
Eric Maria Remarque
Do you have any advice for anyone wanting to get into
the arts?
Art education includes apprenticeship, planning always beats luck and always seek satisfaction in your art.
What piece, award, or exhibition are you particularly proud of, and why?
In 1980, I was accepted into a national art competition at the University of Memphis.
My painting was “ Islamic haircut harness”. It was an egg tempera over silverpoint process. I distressed the surface by using sandpaper to rough up the paint. Afterwards, I would glaze back into it.
The author, John Canaday was the juror and, at that time, he was also the art critic for the New York Times. My painting was so different that it didn’t fit into an awards category so he invented one for me. He awarded me the “Best contemporary use of a traditional medium”.
In one sentence, what is art to you?
Art downloads a purpose.
I know you have an exhibition in the Main Gallery at Bank of the Arts, but where else can people find your work?
Arkansas arts and science center, EE Bass Cultural Arts Center, Muscarelle Museum of Art, Mississippi Museum of Art, Clemson University, University of Southern Mississippi, Bowling Green State University, East Carolina University, Greenville Museum of Art, Rocky Mount Arts Center, Meridian Museum of Art, University of Perugia, and Mississippi State University.