Richard “Dick” Knowles and Steve Langdon were well-loved among the Memphis art community as well as the students and faculty lucky enough to encounter their respective tenures at then Memphis State University. For 30 years they taught drawing and painting until both retired in 1999 to freely create and travel, like the true artists they were. The University of Memphis will honor the late former professors – as Langdon passed in 2002 and Knowles just last year – with an exhibition of works characteristic of their passions and teaching styles. The opening reception for Memories will take place at the university’s art museum this Friday, October 7th, from 5 to 7:30 p.m., with the exhibition running from the 8th until January 7th, 2012.
Curated by Lawrence Edwards, professor emeritus and former chair of the University’s Department of Art, the tribute will showcase Knowles’ proficiency in the world of abstract expressionism alongside Langdon’s clever flair within meticulous drawings and some early paintings.
As a painter, Knowles expressed a particular fondness for nature; capturing aerial landscapes, figures in water, forests, deserts, mountains, and canyons. The exhibition will also feature pieces stemming from his interest in Eastern philosophies and personal desires as a artist.
Langdon’s attentive works in graphite, ink, and Prismacolor, explore his loving observations of diverse physical qualities in the contemplation of complex emotions. The intimacy he conveys through such subtle technique undoubtedly calls for careful consideration from the viewer.
The Art Museum of the University of Memphis will also host exhibitions Sitting Still Revisited and Caseworks from Ramona Sonin, October 8th through November 26th.
