About the ArtistWillie BirchAs a young man in the 1960s, Birch was active in the civil rights movement. In the course of his career he has continuously demonstrated the potential of art to provoke social change. The paintings in Kidspace each tell an evocative story of contemporary African-American life in New Orleans through richly painted portraits of Birch's friends, neighbors, and members of his community. These vibrant, beautiful figures, painted on a human scale, face us as we look at them and compel us, in turn, to look back and examine ourselves. As a graduate student, Birch was influenced by abstraction and color field painting, but in the late 1970s, during a residency at the Studio Museum in Harlem, he began looking more closely at the forms and content of American folk art and outsider art. Birch cites many artists who have inspired his work, including photographer P.H. Polk, Romare Bearden, Bill Traylor, Paul Klee, Nellie Mae Rowe, and Grandma Moses. His work is also informed by his study of art from around the world, especially from African and American Indian cultures. Somebody's Child: Paintings by Willie BirchSeptember 14 - January 5, 2004
Somebody's Child features thirteen paintings by acclaimed artist and educator Willie Birch. Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Birch studied art at Southern University in New Orleans and received his M.F.A. from the Maryland Institute College of Art in 1973. Birch lived in Brooklyn, New York, for over twenty years before returning to New Orleans in 1994, where he now lives and works. The title of this exhibition, Somebody's Child, comes from Birch's recent reflections on the frequency of violence in our country and throughout the world. Whether playing music, dancing, resting, or posing, the people in Birch's paintings convey basic human characteristics-pride, strength, tenderness, energy, uncertainty-that are universally recognizable. At the same time, Birch portrays these people in a highly individualized manner and gives their specific experience as African Americans in New Orleans vital form. In this way, Birch pays tribute to his community and cultural heritage and points to aspects of the human condition shared by us all. Somebody's Child was organized by Molly Polk with Megan Hack. Special thanks to Luise Ross and Ned Puchner. Activity for KidsDesign your own memory jug, just like Willie Birch. You will need a vessel such as a clean milk or laundry detergent bottle, tissue paper, magazine images, papier mache glue (white glue watered down), and a paint brush. Find images in magazines that symbolize important aspects and interests in your life, as well as cultural and family traditions. Glue these to your bottle and overlay with tissue paper to make a colorful design. |