The Lighthouse ArtCenter brings us “The Art of the Figure: A Cultural Narrative of the Native Born, Sam Perry, Terre Rybovich, and Purvis Young ( 2018 Florida Artist Hall of Fame).   The Opening Reception is Thursday, December 6. Celebrate three native-born Floridians who alarm and enchant us with unexpected viewpoints, talents, and techniques!  The exhibit runs December 3 – January 5.  Kudos to the Lighthouse ArtCenter for presenting three powerful testaments to the rich cultural diversity in our vibrant State!  The Rickie Report shares the details and some sneak peeks.

 

 

 

 

Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery

373 Tequesta Drive    Tequesta, Florida 33469

(561) 746-3101     www.LighthouseArts.org

 

 

 

 

 

Art of the Figure:

  A Cultural Narrative of the Native Born

Sam Perry, Terre Rybovich and Purvis Young (2018 Florida Artist Hall of Fame)

 

 

Opening Reception:

Thursday, December 6, 2018

5:30 – 7:30 pm

Couvert: No charge for members, nonmembers $5.00

Hours:  Monday – Friday    10 am – 4 pm

Saturdays 10 am – 2 pm

This exhibit is available December 3, 2018 – January 5, 2019

 

 

 

 

Lighthouse ArtCenter celebrates three native born Floridians who alarm and enchant us with their unexpected viewpoints, talents and techniques.  Consummate artists, each translates individual life experiences using only charcoal and paint on paper and canvas, or in the case of the famous outsider artist, Purvis Young, anything he could get his hands on.  The Lighthouse ArtCenter is proud to present these three powerful testaments to the rich cultural diversity in our vibrant state.

 

 

 

“Young Warriors On Horseback” by Purvis Young

 

Purvis Young  1943-2010

 

Purvis Young’s work will be shown in the 2019 Venice Biennale.  He was inducted into the Florida Artist Hall of Fame 2018.

 

 

Born in Miami’s Liberty City neighborhood, visual artist Purvis Young is most associated with the Overtown neighborhood where he settled in the 1960s. A major figure in the world of “Outsider Art,” his work may be found in the collections of the American Folk Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the High Museum of Art, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as well as Overtown’s Black Archives History and Research Foundation of South Florida, among many others.

 

 

A prolific creator, Young served three years in prison as a teenager, where he began drawing and studying art books from the prison library. “I didn’t have nothing going for myself,” he said. “That’s the onliest thing I could mostly do. I was just looking through art books, looking at guys painting their feelings.”

 

“Angel of Overtown” by Purvis Young

 

 

His work, highly influenced by Western art history, is colorful and vibrant, often serving as social critique and a call to action for social justice. Young painted and drew on a multiplicity of objects including found wood, discarded cardboard, doors, old utility bills, and printed pages from books. His installation Good Bread Alley consisted of multiple works affixed to the walls of a vacant alley in Overtown. Artworks were often sold or removed, then replaced with new works, and the installation/mural soon attracted the attention of the media and Bernard Davis, owner of the Miami Art Museum, who became an early patron, providing art supplies to the artist.

 

 

Sam Perry 1956 –

 

 

 

 

“Starbucks Series” by Sam Perry

 

 

 

Born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida, Sam Perry is now one of the area’s most accomplished artists. He achieved success as an abstract artist in galleries in Miami, New York and elsewhere.  Then, in the wake of 9/11, Sam chose to focus on the human figure. “It was a paradigm shift for me,” he explained. “I became more aware of humanity and its frailty.”

 

Sam is an active proponent of the arts in his community. A member of the faculty of the Armory Art Center since 1987, he is now the longest-serving person there.  He taught art at Florida Atlantic University, Palm Beach Atlantic University and Dreyfoos School of the Arts, in addition to giving private lessons.

 

“Starbuck Series” by Sam Perry

 

 

 

“I like to draw in public spaces because it connects me to my community.” Sam added, “Palm Beach county is significant to the arts in Florida and becoming more so as the population continues to grow and evolve into sophisticated art-lovers.”

 

 

Sam received all of his education in Florida. He earned his Bachelor of Fine Art at Ringling College of Art and Design and his Master of Fine Art at Florida Atlantic University.  Sam Perry is the recipient of the South Florida Cultural Consortium Fellowship. His work has appeared in numerous solo exhibitions and his work can be found in the collections of museums, universities and private residences.

 

Terre Rybovich 1956 –

 

 

 

“While You, Beauty, See Us” by Terre Rybovich

 

 

The large drawings created by Terre Rybovich began by the artist charcoaling the entire surface of the paper and then lying down on it. The idea came to her years ago while delirious with the flu. “Drawing backwards” is how it initially presented itself. In other words, she removes charcoal to create an image instead of adding charcoal to paper.

 

 

 

Focused on figurative work, the body seemed like the most promising means for removing charcoal. The imprints are subtle but powerful, even edifying. She explains an unexpected outcome of this technique is how the mind reacts when confronted with creative input that it did not generate. Every new drawing requires a period of slow absorption, or acquiescence, before the mind yields to the body’s input. Then the imprint guides the process of completing the drawing.

 

 

“Freehand” by Terre Rybovich

 

Ultimately, the result of the body calling the shots at the drawing board is that Rybovich creates artwork that the mind could not have imagined. It means she works in a state of perpetual wonder.  She says, “Other artists have imprinted their art with their bodies since the earliest cave paintings. What captivates us, I believe, is the unadulterated impact of this most literal means of making the immaterial material—which is the essence of art.”

 

 

Terre’s formal education covered politics and economics. Her first career was in social justice activism and grant-making. That activist experience forged an enduring commitment to this world. It also instilled a courageous drive that she channels into art-making where she is happiest when she ventures beyond what is known. She is the daughter of Tommie Rybovich, the noted boat designer and builder. Ms. Rybovich proudly claims an inheritance of self-guided vision and ambition for the work.

 

 

 

The Lighthouse ArtCenter, a 501c (3) not-for-profit, was founded in 1964 by eight artists and Christopher Norton. In the last 54 years it has grown to include a gallery, school of art, gift shop, and art supply store. Supported by memberships, sponsors, and grants the ArtCenter now serves over 20,000 guests, 2,500 students, 45 faculty members, 500 summer ArtCampers and a comprehensive outreach program to benefit underserved and disabled residents in the community.

 

 

 

Lighthouse ArtCenter Gallery

373 Tequesta Drive    Tequesta Florida  33469

(561) 746-3201

Monday – Friday 10 am – 4 pm     Saturday 10 am – 2 pm

 

 

 

Lighthouse ArtCenter School of Art and Art Supply Store

395 Seabrook Road    Tequesta, Florida 33469

(561)748-8737

Monday – Friday 9 am – 5 pm       Saturday 9 am – 4 pm

www.LighthouseArts.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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