The photographer Adger Cowans has some great advice for photographers.
Come to think of it, it's great advice for us all, photographers or not. "I don't photograph anything that doesn't move me. Whatever you are translates to your photos, therefore start with the heart," Cowans writes in his new coffee-table book Personal Vision: Photographs (Glitterati, $75).
Cowans is a photography master who apprenticed with luminary Gordon Parks (photographer, writer, film director -- 1969's The Learning Tree, 1971's Shaft). Cowans documented 1960s Harlem, crafted stunning portraits of some of Hollywood's biggest stars on the sets of films such as On Golden Pond and School Daze and created striking experimental art photographs. He is an unsung hero of American photography.
There are two opportunities to get acquainted with Cowans' work. Little Rock's Hearne Fine Art has opened an exhibition of mostly black-and-white images titled "Personal Vision: The Exhibition," which hangs through April 14. He also has images in "Soul of a Nation" at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
Images in the Hearne show include:
• Classic and classy portraits that echo the great Hollywood portrait photographer Cecil Beaton and Parks, such as the beautifully lighted Novella Nelson -- From the Cotton Club, a meditative portrait of filmmaker Melvin Van Peebles, a humorous shot of Mick Jagger sleeping in a hammock and two impressive images of Malcolm X. The cool Ali and Stevie Wonder, with boxer Muhammad Ali and the singer onstage, will thrill viewers.
• Fine art images shot in Harlem include the remarkable White Umbrella, a 1961 shot from several stories up of a single white umbrella held aloft by a pedestrian crossing the street in a snowfall. One could easily imagine Alfred Stieglitz capturing a scene like this. Camera aloft again, Cowans caught the long shadows cast by three pedestrians in 1960's 3 Shadows. A storefront's reflection with several children make 1960s-era Superior Cleaners a real jewel.
Sun + Trees, from 1960, and 1963's meditative Water Spirit are exquisite and spiritual, tapping nature and generating a sense of peace and connection.
Whatever the subject, Cowans gives the viewer a hint of the divine, an emotional context and a path to the essence of life and spirit. His portraits radiate a sense of human dignity and character. Soulful? Inspiring? Moving? Absolutely.
Adger Cowans, "Personal Vision: The Exhibition," through April 14. Hearne Fine Art, 1001 Wright Ave., Suite C, Little Rock. Hours: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday. Info: (501) 372-6822, hearnefineart.com
HORN'S SHIFTING GEARS
Gifted sculptor Robyn Horn of Little Rock has a solo show at Justus Fine Art Gallery in Hot Springs. Curated by art consultant and educator Rachel Golden, it continues through March 31.
"Shifting Gears -- Selections From Robyn Horn's Industrial Series" features sculptures made from salvaged pine beams with found metal objects. The exhibit also includes some pieces from Horn's fascinating "Reliquaries" series, which display machine-cast metal parts in wooden receptacles. There also are some works on paper and canvas.
A catalog of the exhibit is available at the gallery and on its website.
Horn's wood sculptures are part of the collections of The National Museum of American Art, Renwick Gallery, Washington; Museum of Arts and Design, New York; Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; White House Collection of American Crafts, Clinton Presidential Center, Little Rock; the Arkansas Arts Center and many more.
"Shifting Gears -- Selections From Robyn Horn's Industrial Series," through March 31. Justus Fine Art Gallery, 827 A Central Ave., Hot Springs. Hours: 10 a.m.- 5 p.m., Wednesday-Saturday. Info: (501) 321-2335 or justusfineart.com.
5WOMENARTISTS
Historic Arkansas Museum has opened "#5WomenArtists" to focus attention on the contributions by women in the museum's collections and exhibitions.
The exhibit focuses on five Arkansas artists: Jamie Goza Fox, who painted in Jefferson County and southern Pulaski Country from the 1930s through the 1950s; Essie Ann Treat Ward, also known as the Grandma Moses of the Ozarks for her primitive paintings of rural Arkansas life; Elsie Mae Ford, who studied at the Arts Student League in New York and was known for her charcoal drawings; Natalie Smith Henry, who studied painting at the Art Institute of Chicago and created a mural for the Springdale post office, which was installed in November 1940; and Neppie Lee Conner, a former air traffic controller who later studied art. She joined the art faculty at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in 1946.
"5WomenArtists," through March 31, Historic Arkansas Museum, 200 E. Third St., Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, 1--4:30 p.m. Sunday. Info: (501) 324-9351; historicarkansas.org
OPENING
New works by artist Laura Raborn will be featured in "Looking Closely" at Cantrell Gallery. It opens with a reception at 6 p.m. Friday.
In her artist's statement, Raborn says she "hopes the paintings enable viewers to experience what I do as an artist: looking closely and feeling a swell of gratitude for the seemingly mundane parts of living."
Raborn's paintings are in many collections, including recent acquisitions by CARTI, Arkansas Children's Hospital and the private collection of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Laura Raborn, "Looking Closely," Friday-May 5, Cantrell Gallery, 8206 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Info: (501) 224-1335 ; cantrellgallery.com
Email:
ewidner@arkansasonline.com
Style on 03/11/2018