Roy LaGrone: The Beauty of the Impossible at Gumtree Museum of Art
Gumtree Museum of Art
Roy LaGrone,
Beacon #4: Shelter from the Storm (Biloxi), Beta Projection series C-print 24 x 35 in., 2007.
Courtesy of the Artist and Gumtree Museum of Art.
Roy LaGrone: The Beauty of the Impossible
August 1 - September 20, 2008
Gumtree Museum of Art
211 W Main Street
Tupelo, MS 38804
Gumtree Museum of Art organizes hometown debut of media artist
Roy LaGrone
The Gumtree Museum of Art is delighted to present “The Beauty of the Impossible,” a solo exhibition by video/ new media artist Roy LaGrone. LaGrone, a Tupelo native based in Italy - creates computer-generated artwork “centered on transforming discarded artifacts, places and entities into sacred projections.” This debut exhibition, which is LaGrone’s first ever in his hometown, presents eighteen works from his Beta Projection series, a suite of large-scale photomontage constructed from found objects, addressing issues of 21st century displacement and renewal. “At this moment in my life and career, where I live the farthest physical distance away from Tupelo, I’m pleased, honored and humbled to be sharing this current body of work in Mississippi… For it’s rare, indeed that one is blessed with the gracious opportunity (after twenty plus years away), to dialog with his/or her birth-home on this sacred level,” said LaGrone. Roy LaGrone: The Beauty of the Impossible is on view !
from
August 1 through September 20, 2008.
The Beta Projection series is an ongoing series of fortuitous experiments that LaGrone conducts in his immediate surroundings (currently in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy). On daily walks, LaGrone collects objects (”remnants of trash”) of interest; and then morphs his artifacts into virtual images involving intricate illusions of three-dimensional space. These objects were already charged with their own respective histories,” says LaGrone. By “utilizing advances in digital imaging processes, I attempt to prescribe visual narratives for these now-discarded artifacts. Working together at the intersection of photography, sculpture and painting these large-scale, computer-generated transpositions are fetishes; which explore the idea of” healing and transforming the socially discarded, LaGrone wrote in his artist statement. “I am questioning whether today’s technology can be optimized in the production of holistic renewal.”
“In objects collected from the detritus of society Roy reveals a transcendental beauty and tells its story. Rooted in the manner in which commercial photography composes small objects such as a precious gem to reveal its inner fire, these experimental photographs are also digitally manipulated to reveal the enigma of our environment. Though this digital process may magnify the fact that you are no longer viewing a photograph, Roy LaGrone’s work is not about process and effects. LaGrone’s work is the composition of a poet. The microcosm encapsulated within a bit of trash is our story. We are pleased to offer our visitors the metaphysical images of Roy LaGrone.” said curator Robert Ring.
Born in 1966 in Tupelo, Mississippi, Roy LaGrone received a B.F.A. from the Atlanta College of Art and a M.F.A. in computer art from the Savannah College of Art and Design. He lives and works in Pordenone, Italy. LaGrone’s work has been shown at numerous venues including the Smithsonian Institution; SIGGRAPH; the Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans; the Cultural Center Pablo of the Torriente Brau, Havana, Cuba; and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, Austin.
Gumtree Museum of Art
211 W Main St., Tupelo, MS 38804
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 786
Tupelo, MS 38802
General Information: (662) 844-2787
Web site: http://www.gumtreemuseum.com
Museum Hours: Tuesday-Friday: 10:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.;
Saturday: 10:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m.
The Gumtree Museum of Art provides museum quality exhibitions, educational opportunities, and culturally diverse activities.