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Lake Wales Arts Council
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JOHN BIGGERS AND HIS COLLECTION OPENING RECEPTION 5 - 7 P.M.
John Biggers, a painter, printmaker and sculptor, is known for his meticulous depictions of African and African-American life. His art is grounded in the humanistic spirit and social realist narrative style of the 30s and 40s. Over the years it grew increasingly emblematic, with figures and architectural forms arranged in intricate patterns that suggested quilts, African textiles and modernist geometric abstraction. A graduate of Hampton University, he later earned a Master's Degree in art education and his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University. In 1949 Mr. Biggers joined the faculty of Texas State University for Negroes in Houston, now Texas Southern University, where he established and was chairman of the art department. In 1957 Mr. Biggers and his wife, Hazel, spent six months traveling in Africa on a UNESCO grant to study Western African cultural traditions. Afterward, African design motifs and scenes of African life became important parts of his work. The Getty Museum included Mr. Biggers' work in the Discipline Based Art Education Program that will be used with school children visiting the exhibit in Lake Wales. This extraordinary exhibition will feature works by Mr. Biggers and pieces from his private collection of African art on loan from his widow. |
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