November 18 – January 2, 2023
Beverley Street Studio School Gallery
Artist Statement
My wife and I bought a brick 1881 house in Staunton, intrigued by its solidity and symmetry, appreciating how it fit perfectly into the town’s heyday, when the city served as a major railroad hub. Landscape motifs generously presented themselves, and I began to haunt the Amtrak station, MBU’s multileveled campus, the ghostly beauty of the former Asylum and the Thornhill cemetery. Haunt seems the appropriate word, for I love the sense of stillness, history and continuity, another vista always available on rambles through the town.
What keeps an artist going? Perhaps we create provisional meaning as we go along, experiencing both humility and control, bewildered yet engaged. Whether doing a portrait that aspires to capture some sense of the sitter’s character, or an invented eight foot wide narrative based on story or myth, the painter looks to be surprised and informed, pleased as well as dismayed.
Short Biography
Raised by a man convinced science was the only gauge of reality and a woman trained as an actress, painting and sculpture seemed to involve both the objective and subjective realms. On hearing my intention to lead a life in art, they feared I would spend that life in their basement, but I surprised them, and perhaps myself, by managing to survive on my own, going to graduate school, teaching, doing murals and having gallery shows that allowed me tremendous freedom to work for half a century now. I consider myself extremely fortunate to have a wife who, as a writer, generally understands and shares the weird hours, the peculiar projects, the general uncertainty.
Book Reviews
Two reviews of Lincoln Perry’s new book, click on the titles to read:
- From the Wall Street Journal: ‘Seeing Like an Artist’ Review: Go, Look, Love!
- From C-Ville Weekly: An Artist’s Perspective