November 2011

NC Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC, Features Works by Richard Wilson

NC Wesleyan College in Rocky Mount, NC, will present the exhibit, Enduring Moments, including pastel paintings and portraits by African American artist Richard Wilson of Greenville, NC, on view in the Dunn Center’s Mims Art Gallery, from Nov. 4 through Dec. 18, 2011. A reception will be held on Nov. 4, from 7-9pm.

Wilson has gained the status of master pastel artist by peer acclaim among professional artists and his pastel paintings also have strong popular appeal, given the universality of his subject matter. His narrative paintings frequently feature his own family and in particular his children in those special moments that only children have while growing up. Wilson’s artistic strength is his capacity to select those moments that transcend the personal and can reach a broader audience. Some paintings are nostalgic, some express those human connections that are only found within the family, and some express the challenge; in all his paintings there is warmth and discretion. The artist does many commission portraits as well, and has that uncanny capacity to extract personality and depth from his subjects faithfully represented in his realistic style.

Wilson has produced an impressive twenty year career as a productive professional artist, freelance and corporate graphic designer, and teacher at Pitt Community College. He has artworks in numerous collections, public and private, but is most proud of his official portrait of George Henry White, the last former slave to serve in Congress, and the fact that Wilson is the first African American artist to have a portrait publicly displayed in a North Carolina courthouse.

During his career Wilson has received numerous local, national and international awards; in 2002 he received the prestigious National Arts Club Award. Amongst his many shows, competitions and accolades, in 2005 he also won First Place in “The Best of North Carolina” Juried Publication and in 2006 Pastel Society of New Mexico Award at the Pastel Society of America 34th Annual Art Exhibit, National Arts Club, NYC.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the gallery at 252/985-5268 or visit (www.ncwc.edu/Arts/Mims/).

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