Whitfield Lovell

Lovell creates these drawings in pencil, oil stick, or charcoal on paper, wood, or directly on walls.

In his most recent work, these drawings are paired with found objects that Lovell collects at flea markets and antique shops.

[1] Whitfield Lovell grew up in the Bronx and attended The High School of Music and Art in Manhattan.

My training, however, was heavily steeped in European artistic values; even the earlier pieces, which had more modernist notions in them, really did come from that tradition.

Rather than return to Venice to finish my master's degree, I spent a lot of time in Mexico getting an education of a different sort.

"[6]In 1994, Lovell's work was shown as part of the American contingent at the IV Bienal Internacional de Pintura en Cuenca, Ecuador.

Other American artists exhibiting at this show were Donald Locke, Philemona Williamson, Freddy Rodríguez and Emilio Cruz.

[7] In 1993, Lovell visited a private artist's retreat at the Villa Val Lemme in Capriatta d'Orba, Italy.

Also, the coat of arms on the front of the building had an African face on it, and a few very elderly locals could apparently remember the blacks who had lived there.

"In response, Lovell created site-specific drawings on the walls of the villa using its history as the theme, a dignified image of a black person.

[7] Whispers From the Walls was Lovell's fourth installation, created during a 1999 residency at the University of North Texas Art Gallery in Denton.

Inside the house was a single room filled with furniture, clothing, personal objects, and sound.

The water is a rich brown color, like tea, the result of the tannin that dripped from the juniper trees over the centuries.

"For the installation we got thirty trees and stood them up in the gallery, with branches, leaves, and vines extending into the space, creating barriers and obstacles for the viewer.

Twelve basins and washboards filled with water were placed around the room, with the faces of people looking out at the viewer.

"[10] In 1997, during a month in Mount Desert, Maine, at the Acadia Summer Art Program, Lovell made his first tableaux: charcoal drawings on antique wood panels coupled with found objects.

The Kin Series (2008 - 2011) is collection of sixty works made of individual portrait images in Conte crayon on paper combined with found objects.

I saw those qualities as more honest and raw (if I may), whereas in the studio portrait photos that I have worked from, the sitters appear very elegant and posed.

Also, my interest in collecting crayon portraits came simultaneously with the images in the Hand Series, thought I didn't consciously think about it at the time ...

The exhibition is a retrospective of Lovell's significant body of work which includes the installations Visitations: The Richmond Project and Deep River, which are being presented concurrently for the first time.

Included in this stop will be The Reds (2021-2022), Lovell's newest series, featuring works on deep crimson paper.