Kathleen Atkins Wilson’s exhibition is presented as an engaging journey from myth to reality.
The Museum of African American Art in Los Angeles presents Kathleen Atkins Wilson “Art of the Spirit – Myth to Reality,” an exhibition of selected works. The Museum of African American Art is pleased to acknowledge local artists who have received international acclaim for their artwork, in celebration of the museum’s upcoming 40-year anniversary in 2016.
The public is invited to the opening reception of this new exhibition: Opening reception – Sunday, August 16, at 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Museum of African American Art (MAAA) in Macy’s on the third floor in the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza,4005 Crenshaw Boulevard in Los Angeles. The exhibition will be on display at MAAA from August 16, through December 31.
The exhibition is presented as an engaging journey from myth to reality. Visitors are welcomed by “The Griots,” magnanimous images of storytellers, who prepare the way for two myths. The first set of mythical images is based on
“Elephant, Thunder and Dorobo,” a folktale from Great Books Inc. retold by Humphrey Harman, and the second set of mythical images is based on “The Origin of Life on Earth,” an African creation myth retold by David Anderson in a book that won the American Library Association’s Coretta Scott King Children’s Book Award in 1993.
The exhibit then transitions out of myth and into reality with images that reveal the grandeur of life, community, spiritual wisdom, and cultural unity. The next segment of the exhibit, “The Magnificent Theater of Art,” features fresh new works of new media art and images from the forthcoming book, “The Musical Journey of the African Diaspora from Antiquity to Modernity,” a collaboration between musical composer Cliff Roberts and Rev. Dr. Lewis E. Logan II, that will feature Wilson’s artwork. Woven into the fiber of this show are selections from inspirational words scribed by Wilson, collectively called, “The Spirit Speaks, Paints, and Writes.” Finally, Wilson’s sensitively rendered sculptures accent the exhibition.
Wilson’s exemplary career as artist and entrepreneur is reflected in this spirited display of her artwork at The Museum of African American Art. Selected images by Kathleen Atkins Wilson will be available for purchase in the MAAA gift shop during the run of the exhibition.
“Art of the Spirit records my life journey, a dance with art,” says Wilson. “Creating art, whether painting, drawing, drafting, sculpting, printmaking, or designing graphics, is my way of touching that spiritual place within my soul where tangible beauty exists.
“I am prompted by the great creative Spirit within me, who provides the spark. Each step is in search of that which already Page 2 of 3 exists. It is hidden within waiting to be revealed. I often look back in awe at the wondrous works of my hands. I have captured a trustworthy family, a brilliant community, secrets of nature, sacred moments, and wild abstracts of pure mood, stillness, and gracefulness.”
“During these disquieting times, Kathleen Atkins Wilson’s art focuses our minds on peace, unity, and goodness,” said Berlinda Fontenot-Jamerson, president of the museum’s board of directors. “Art contains the power to fuel the heart of the beloved community. This exhibition takes us back to the beginning, the uniquely African mythical stories of origin. It then reconnects us to each other by the messages heard through the silence of a painting, in-between the words, and in the meditations of the heart.”
For more information, please visit www.maaala.org