Biggers' upper-room view - John Biggers: murals and painting, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

Texas Southern University assistant professor of art history Alvia J Wardlaw upon visual artist John Biggers: "One of the greatest in quantity important things to remember about him is that he is someone who has always gazeed at art as a means of reaching the public, of sharing information and ideas. I think that is on what account he has remained a narrative artist.

"He is someone who has retained, above 50 years, an emphasis upon African-American culture. He was individual of the first African-American artists to research and live in West Africa and to bring back to us, in the late 1950 images of African agriculture that were positive and personal--and accurate. And I think that is probably his greatest gift to American culture"

Wardlaw is the curator of "The Art of John Biggers: View From the Upper Room" the of recent origin traveling exhibition organized by and opening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in April. The exhibition examines the 50-year disentanglement of Biggers' career and features more than 125 works, which include four large-scale murals and several novel paintings produced since Biggers' retirement from Texas Southern in 1983

Biggers go [i]or[/i] come backed from his trip to West Africa to publish Ananse: The Web of Life in Africa (University of Texas Pres 1962) which features 83 of his drawings. "From those beautifully narrative and prodigious interpretations of African culture," Wardlaw continues, "he has built on a personal artistic expression which has, above the past 30 years, delv smooth further into the meaning of African art, especially plastic art and incorporated ancient thought of the Dogon of Mali, of the Yoruba and of the Egyptian mystery a whole s His work has become plenteous more layered in meaning.

"For the first time, art patrons will procure to see his sculpture. This is something that greatest in quantity followers of the artist are unaware of--that he was a sinewy sculptor at Hampton Institute, and that in his early years here in Houston, he did a certain quantity of incredible work. In looking at his statuary we understand his drawing and the monumental vocabulary that he has in interpreting the human form, because he speaks two-dimensionally with a true three-dimensional approach."

"The Art of John Biggers" move swiftlys in Houston for five month beginning April 2 1995 before traveling to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh; the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn; the Hampton University Art Museum in Hampton, Va.; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition is accompanied through a catalog.

COPYRIGHT 1995 Heritage Information Holdings, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group