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Ouachita to host “Real and Imagined” exhibit by Justin Bryant through March 6

Arkansas artist Justin Bryant's exhibit, "Real and Imagined"

January 22, 2020 - Rachel Gaddis

Ouachita will host local artist Justin T. Bryant’s exhibit “Real and Imagined,” which investigates the past and present imagery of African Americans, Jan. 14 through March 6 in the Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery. The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Ouachita Baptist University’s Rosemary Adams Department of Art and Design will host “Real and Imagined,” an exhibit by Arkansas artist Justin Tyler Bryant, Jan. 14 through March 6. The exhibit will be displayed in the Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery on the first floor of Moses-Provine Hall and is free and open to the public. Bryant also will present a lecture on Friday, Feb. 21, at 11:15 a.m. in Moses-Provine 206, and a reception will follow in the gallery.

“Real and Imagined” investigates the past and present imagery of African Americans to reflect a multi-contextual narrative of poetry, personal narrative and history, according to Bryant. His work is a collection of found objects, painting, drawing and video “to suggest a fugitive notion of blackness.”

“Justin’s work is a stunning mix of black culture and history coupled with a personal perspective that offers a very poetic and exquisite narrative that is not always complete,” said Carey Roberson, assistant professor of Art and Design. “It is that openness and the connections he makes between imagery and object that fully draw you in and make you think.

“He is an absolutely tremendous talent, and we are so fortunate to have his work in our gallery space,” he added. “Justin also is a recent recipient of a Mid-America Arts Alliance Interchange Program Fellowship, which is such a huge accomplishment; this fellowship is given to artist-led projects that seek to create a social impact on society.”

Originally from Stuttgart, Ark., Bryant has been featured by the Zoe B. Art Center in Chicago, Ten Gallery in New Orleans, LookOut! Art Gallery at Michigan State University and Thea Arts Foundation in Little Rock.

Bryant earned a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2012 and a Master of Fine Arts degree in studio art from Louisiana State University in 2018. He has taken courses at Penland School of Craft, Ox-box School of Art and Artists’ Residency and the Art Students League in New York, and he also was a participant at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture in 2017.

Rosemary Gossett Adams Gallery hours are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays, and admission to the exhibit and the lecture on Friday, Feb. 21, is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Carey Roberson at [email protected] or (501) 245-4655.