Southern Artists / Southern Art?

If the lazy, hazy days of summer have you dabbling-your-toes in the water somewhere persuading yourself there aren't really any alligators in these parts (of course there aren't!!) perhaps its time to get up before the sun goes down, mop up a bit, and head on down to the cool, lovely, light-filled & air-conditioned space known as the Jule Collins Smith Museum at Auburn University.

This month sees the dual shows Facing South: Portraits of Southern Artists by Jerry Siegel (june 2–August 18) as well as Southern Artists / Southern Art? (may 12–August 11, 2012) and begs us to beg the question: is there, or ain't there some common and distinguishing threads found in southern music, literature, the written word, vernacular architecture?

Do dragons really grow larger in the south? IS there some extra level of soul, secrecy, wariness as a legacy of the civil war? Is the presumed anti-intellectual stance only a foil? Is there some extra dimension to a region which had to face its race issues, so close to home at all times, before many others in the country did?

Or does it go even further back, in the magical land that used to be filled with Injuns (they prefer to native 'americans'), with panthers, golden eagles, mad flocks of tropical birds, flying squirrels, passenger pigeons & more?


In other words - are us rebels really so special?

Well, maybe we are -

And maybe we are.
There does seem to be some basis for the argument.

But come argue the matter in the lofty-light filled halls at JCS, or perhaps be too crafty to argue & just take in the show. And draw your own related, or un-related conclusions.

Artists depicted in Alabama-native Jerry Siegel’s exhibit number among the most significant painters, printmakers, and cultural producers in various media the South has brought forth. To peep into the faces captured in his 100 black & white and color-photographs is to peep, perhaps, at some kind of reflection of the southern soul - if there really is some distinct point-of-view we can claim as a region, at which one can peep.

The corresponding exhibit Southern Artists / Southern Art? gives us a chance to ponder the question further by featuring a selection of work by a few of the figures Siegel photographed - in a diverse selection of work by southern artists such as Benny Andrews, Frank Fleming, Dale Kennington, R.A. Miller, and others.