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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS |
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The LCVA has three gallery spaces for rotating art exhibitions and one gallery for display of its permanent collection of African art. In addition, the Kids' Activity Room, adjacent to the Bishop Gallery, features family-friendly activities that correlate to the main exhibition. A lower level gallery an also be used for exhibitions. Recent LCVA exhibitions include Reflecting Centuries of Beauty: The Rowe Collection of Chinese Art, which garnered regional and national awards; the nationally traveled Pre-Columbian Art from the Mississippi Museum of Art; and Virginia's first solo show of the internationally acclaimed Kojo Griffin, a native of Farmville. The galleries are free and open to the public, including evening opening receptions. Current Exhibitions CURRENT EXHIBITIONS Extreme Personalities, Elegant Paintings: 29 May - 24 October 2009
The works in the exhibition were created in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s by some of the best and most interesting painters working in Virginia at the time: William S. Amlong, Phyllis Biddle, Richard Lee Bland, William Fletcher Jones, William Kendrick, Art Kimberly, and Eddie Peters. The paintings entered the collection of the late Lester Blackiston, who held them privately for decades before giving them to the LCVA in late 2006. The artists in this exhibition, along with Blackison, their patron, were known for their spirited lifestyle as they questioned conformity in a manner in keeping with the Beat movement’s counterculture. In Richmond, the Bohemian scene centered around the Village Café and the Shockoe Bottom neighborhood where theories of painting, poetry, and politics were stridently espoused and simultaneously challenged. For all, life and art were commingled. The art these artists produced was as visually intense as their lives in color, composition, and execution. Gallerist Robert Mayo told the Richmond Times-Dispatch, “There is no question that Lester’s collection fills an important time in the Richmond art scene when a few really superior artists really began living the artist’s life, living for their work.” Artist Eddie Peters also recalled, “Lester collected many works of the true Richmond, Virginia, painters who worked from the soul, dedicated to capturing and expressing a realm of their time, a time of Richmond’s awakening to world culture. (His) collection reflects a portion and spirit of a time past which continues in Richmond’s dedication to breaking the bonds of regionalism and opening itself to world awareness.” LCVA Director K. Johnson Bowles concludes, “The LCVA is honored to be the stewards of these paintings, most of which have never been shown publicly before. They showcase works by some of Virginia’s very best artists, which is the primary focus of the LCVA’s collection.”
Select fourth-graders at Prince Edward County Elementary School participated in a photography program offered by the LCVA's exhibitions manager Alex Grabiec. The kids' best photographs are framed and on exhibit in the LCVA's Main Street Gallery. To learn more about this program, visit our ART Kids information page.
From hot designs to cool colors, kids will be exploring the "primary” role of color in art. Finding inspiration in the paintings and prints of Josef Albers, Johannes Itten, and Frank Stella, children will learn about primary and secondary colors, hues, pigments, and color wheels. Activities will change midway through the run of this Kids’ Activity Room.
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Richmond citiscapes, Virginia landscapes, and captivating still life paintings will be among the works by Virginia artists on display at the LCVA, beginning May 29. Entitled Extreme Personalities, Elegant Paintings: Works from the Lester Blackiston Collection, the exhibition opened with a free, public reception with several of the artists in attendance.
Art Kids Exhibition: 
Colorforms