SAVANNAH, GA – On November 9, 2008, the Beach Institute will open a show featuring over thirty woodcuts and paintings by famed Bahamian artist, Maxwell Taylor. The opening reception will take place at 3pm in the West Gallery of the Beach Institute with a gallery talk by Maxwell Taylor. In addition, this will be the first opportunity for the public to view the new installation of the Ulysses Davis Folk Art Collection, designed by Milutin Pavlovic, Lead Designer for the Telfair’s Jepson Center for the Arts.
The theme for programs for the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation for 2008 is: “The Slave Period and the Middle Passage.” Maxwell Taylor is known as one of the first Bahamian artists. His works have been exhibited in group and one man shows both nationally and internationally for over forty years. Solidly grounded in the consciousness of his Bahamian background, and steeped in the pain and pleasure of the outside world, Taylor works incessantly to record both celebration and atrocity. The work of Max Taylor is a highly personal and spiritual odyssey creating a timeless quality of the dignity and strength of suffering in the experience of mankind and nature. The works in this exhibit will focus on themes related to the Middle Passage and Slavery through the eyes of both African Americans and blacks in the Caribbean, giving our theme a broader international perspective.
Native Savannahian Ulysses Davis (1913-1990) cherished the dream that most of his life's work created over sixty years would be preserved in a museum and made accessible to the public and especially to children. He, however, had not waited to be discovered, and in the tradition of "making do" had created a make-shift art gallery around the walls of his West Savannah barbershop.
On the eve of the late Mr. Davis’ first national traveling exhibition, which will see over 100 of his works shown in major museums in Atlanta, New York, and Chicago, the King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation is proud to present a truly spectacular reinterpretation of the J.B. and Mozelle D. Clemmons gallery, home of the Davis Folk Art Collection. With works that have not been seen in public for nearly twenty years, this is a great opportunity for both previous guests and new visitors to the Beach Institute to experience the legacy of Ulysses Davis in a setting he would surely be proud to call home.
This event is free and open to the public. Funding for the Taylor exhibit was provided in part by the City of Savannah’s Department of Cultural Affairs. For additional information, contact (912) 234-8000 or visit www.kingtisdell.org .
