From May 3-31, 2019 New City Arts presents Garden Variety, an exhibition of new work by Lou Haney. 

• First Friday Opening: May 3 from 5-7:30PM. Artist talk at 6 PM.
• Open Hours: Noon-4PM, Monday-Friday
• Special Event Open Hours: 10-11AM on May 16 for New City Arts & Crafts; 9AM-5PM on May 29 for Co-Working at Welcome Gallery

ARTIST STATEMENT

“To a certain extent, she seemed not to seek for order, but to allow an over-flowering, as if she consciously ventured forever a little further, a little deep, into her life in the garden." (Eudora Welty, A Curtain of Green)

This new series of paintings is based on vintage patterns and textiles with a prismatic color focus. By turning wallpaper into a psychedelic painting and taking flat strips into a dimensional drapery painting, I added texture and dimension to inherently flat surfaces. The installation provided an opportunity to combine all of my interests, encompassing printmaking, embroidery, found objects, textiles, photography, drawing, and painting. 

My first job was with an interior designer in a small southern town. I believe my love of the decorative and ornamentation may have started there. I poured over wallpaper books and fabric samples in the interior design studio and marveled at the way color could change a pattern and give it a different feel.

 My work leans into this love of interior design and is heavily influenced by the feminist movement of Pattern and Decoration from the mid-1970s to the early 1980s. For the last few years, I have been teaching a class called Art History of Women and exploring issues of gender and art history with my students while parenting a now six-year-old girl who is boldly feminine. I revel in her unabashed love of pink, purple, and glitter and have been inspired to allow my own inherently feminine taste to come through. The resulting artwork is bright, shiny, over the top, and unapologetically girly. 

MEET THE ARTIST

Lou Haney was born in Decatur, Alabama. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Art with a Studio Concentration, cum laude from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee, and her Master’s of Fine Art degree in Painting from Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California. In 2009, Lou was fortunate to receive the Kate and George Kendall Fellowship to attend the MacDowell Colony in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Lou Haney was the recipient of the Mississippi Art Commission Individual Artist Fellowship in 2008. Her work has been exhibited in solo shows in California, Virginia, Massachusetts, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Kentucky in over 60 juried group exhibitions. 

Lou Haney moved to Charlottesville with her family in 2014 and currently teaches at Piedmont Virginia Community College and works at Second Street Gallery as an Outreach Coordinator. Most recently, Lou’s design is a finalist for the City Bus Competition.

Artwork images courtesy of the artist.

This Welcome Gallery Exhibit Opening Reception is sponsored by Gropen, Inc. and supported by an Enriching Communities grant from the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation. As always, this exhibit opening reception is free and open to the public. All ages are welcome.

Located at 114 3rd St. NE, Welcome Gallery is downtown, storefront art space in Charlottesville, VA, run by New City Arts Initiative, a non-profit community arts organization. This same location houses NCAI staff offices and a studio space. 

NCAI is proud to promote these artists but accepts no responsibility for the content of their websites or any harm or injury resulting from the use of their websites.