Now that “Mark Rothko in the 1940s: The Decisive Decade” is over, the Arkansas Arts Center, 501 E. Ninth St., Little Rock, will soon be welcoming the “The Crossroads of Memory: Carroll Cloar and the American South” exhibition Saturday, Feb. 28.
The paintings of Carroll Cloar rank among the most haunting and beautiful evocations ever made of the American South. Drawing upon family stories, photographs of ancestors, rural scenery, small town life and memories of his childhood on an Arkansas farm, Cloar captured the quiet richness of a simpler world. At the same time, his images of abandoned buildings, wild panthers or ghostly figures hint at the darker, more dangerous side of human existence. Many of Cloar’s works—such as “Autumn Conversion” or “Where the Southern Cross the Yellow Dog”—have a familiar quality, suggesting our own family histories or childhood recollections.
An exhibition organized by the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art and the Arkansas Arts Center curated by Stanton Thomas, curator of European and decorative art at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, the exhibition will feature works from major public collections as well as rarely seen pictures still in private hands.
The exhibit will be on display until June 11.
To celebrate the opening of “The Crossroads of Memory: Carroll Cloar and the American South,” there will be a reception with hors d’oeuvres and libations in the Alice Pratt Brown Atrium Thursday, Feb. 27. Come early to hear a lecture by Dr. Stanton Thomas, Ph. D., organizing curator and catalogue author. Tickets are required to attend the lecture. Space is limited. Admission is free for members and $15 for non-members (includes access to lecture, reception and exhibition preview). The lecture will get started at 6 p.m. and the reception will run from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Get tickets here!
For more information, visit arkansasartscenter.org or call (501) 372-4000.