News Release
Oklahoma City Artist Reveals the "Light of Day" at the State Capitol
August 30, 2007
FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
Ann Dee Lee
Public Information Director
Oklahoma Arts Council
(405) 521-2931
anndee@arts.ok.gov
Oklahoma City, OK – In combing through the archives of old photographs at the Oklahoma Historical Society, artist David Crismon came across some portraits that caught his eye. In his exhibit, The Light of Day, Crismon uses painting to translate a photographed history that has become marred and transformed with the erosion of time.
His exhibitis on display in the Governor’s Gallery at the State Capitol from September 3rd through November 2nd. Curated by the Oklahoma Arts Council, the Governor’s Gallery is located on the 2nd floor of the State Capitol and is open Monday through Friday from 8:30-5:00.
“I can’t exactly say why I selected these particular images and not others, I just knew this exhibit wasn’t to be the usual roster of famous Oklahoma figures and places. Perhaps it’s as simple as saying there was something intriguing about them that I was drawn to, something I wanted to recognize or remember. Something I wanted to appreciate and once again bring back into the light of day,” said Crismon.
He explained that during the last century, there was a demand for portraiture, and these photographs became the memorabilia of a passing moment. In The Light of Day, Crismon help preserve those memories while adding his own unique perspective in his paintings.
Currently a professor of Fine Arts at Oklahoma Christian University and a lecturer at the University of Central Oklahoma, Crismon teaches art history, design history, painting and drawing. His works have been exhibited at 20 solo and 30 group exhibitions nationally including the Michael Berger Gallery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Craighead Green Gallery, Dallas, Texas, Mainsite Contemporary Art Gallery in Norman and JRB Gallery, Oklahoma City. He earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in painting from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Masters of Fine Arts in painting from the University of Oklahoma where he also served as University Gallery Director.
For more information, contact Ann Dee Lee, Information Director, Oklahoma Arts Council, (405) 521-2931 or anndee@arts.ok.gov.
ABOUT THE OKLAHOMA ARTS COUNCIL
The Oklahoma Arts Council is a state agency whose mission is to improve lives through the arts by promoting and sustaining the development of a thriving arts environment, which is essential to quality of life, education and economic vitality for all Oklahomans.
---End---