(09/10/09)
Mathew Puckett, Brent Fogt
A Millsaps faculty member and a recent Millsaps graduate are two of the 10 Mississippi contemporary visual artists chosen to show their work in the biennial Mississippi Invitational at the Mississippi Museum of Art running now through November 29.
Designed to highlight the work of artists around the state, The Mississippi Invitational strives to exhibit the unique kinds of painting and sculpture Mississippi has to offer and expose the selected artists to a wider audience.
Brent Fogt, assistant professor of art at Millsaps, and Mathew Puckett, a 2008 alum, were selected from more than 100 Mississippi artists to participate in the show by guest curator Peter Plagens, a nationally-recognized curator and art critic from New York City.
Fogt’s pieces on display are large pen on ink drawings that explore topography and pattern through the accumulation of tiny marks.
“In terms of content, I am attempting to create imaginary topographies or aerial views of imaginary places that are filled with pattern and appear to be growing,” Fogt said. “The drawings are different depending upon how far away the viewer is from the piece.”
Puckett’s oil on canvas work explores aspects of humans as changing creatures.
“I am most interested in the inconsistencies that come about with change. The only constant with people is instability. I try to display this instability with contradiction and tension in the formal and technical qualities of the paintings,” said Puckett in his artist’s statement.
“Matthew is intensely devoted to painting. I think he finds the material qualities of paint itself—its potential to create color, its viscosity, its richness—to be almost magical. As a student, he worked extremely hard in the studio and asked lots of great questions. I couldn’t be happier that I am in the show with him,” Fogt said.
The Mississippi Invitational is a way for the museum to discover, showcase and celebrate the work of Mississippi artists, said museum director and Millsaps alumna Betsy Bradley.
“Just as our permanent installation called “The Mississippi Story” attempts to tell the story of art in our state, we realize that that story continues to evolve and develop every day,” Bradley said.
As finalists, both Fogt and Puckett are eligible to apply for the Jane Crater Hiatt Fellowship which provides a grant of up to $15,000 for study, travel and the creation of new work.
The exhibit which runs through November 29, features a variety of work including sculptures of small airplanes, an enormous pop-up book, a video of a Mississippi couple’s honeymoon and a variety of paintings and mixed media.
