Art exhibit displays Joseph Holston's 'powerful' body of work
- March 9, 2015
- / Ben Sheffler
- / civiccon
Joseph Holston wanted to be another Norman Rockwell, who he says always did a “fantastic job of portraying people.”
At age 5, Holston stayed inside to copy his mother’s drawing.
After working as a commercial artist for department stores and as an illustrator for eight years, Holston realized painting was his passion.
He moved to Santa Fe, N.M., took some courses with Richard Getz, and accepted his calling.
"I went as a commercial artist and I came back as a fine artist," he says.
Like Norman Rockwell, Holston has made a name for himself.
Holston’s "Color in Freedom: Journey Along the Underground Railroad" is currently on display at the Pensacola Museum of Art through April 4.
Mary Hartshorn, director of communications at the Pensacola Museum of Art, says the exhibition is wonderful addition to the community that people will appreciate and enjoy.
"The museum is very lucky to be able to display such a powerful body of work," she says. "I'm really happy we can share this with our community."
The collection of 49 paintings, etchings and drawings, consists of four different movements, which Holston calls The Unknown World, Living in Bondage, Journey of Escape and Color in Freedom.
Holston says creating the narrative and emotional journey was the biggest hurdle to overcome.
"I had to try to figure out how to tell a story without really knowing the ins and outs and the ups and the downs of the Underground Railroad," he says.
Breaking it down like a composer of classical music, Holston was able to create a beginning, middle and end to the story. Submerging himself into the story, however, was no easy task.
"I had to get into character, so I imagined that I was part of this unveiling story," he says. "When you get involved with something like that it's very, very emotional."
The first movement, The Unknown World, starts in Africa with "Protection" and continues with "Contemplation of Despair," "Subjugation," "Middle Passage," "Arrival," "In the Unknown" and "On the Block."
Holston says each painting depicts what one might have encountered when going through this journey.
"The first movement was my need to establish with the audience what would really happened at that time, and then introduce them to what was really taking place as far as being captured by potential slave owners and having to go through this transition from freedom to slavery," he says.
Holston says the second movement, Living in Bondage, is pretty self-explanatory, "but there also is going through that ordeal of being told what to do, when to do it, how to do it and all of that.
"All of these things are what I felt would be emotional as far as what I probably would be going through myself, and the plight of my journey through this," he says. "There are certain things that you have to come to grips with in that particular movement."
Holston communicates the emotion of this movement through using or not using color, and body language.
"The color would dictate the gloom and doom of what was happening at that particular time, and also the body language is very, very important," he says.
The gloom and doom was very real to Holston, who says this collection is the most expensive, emotional and grueling work he's ever done.
"The first and second movement, that was kind of rough," he says. "I had to understand and I had to deal with that, and it was real."
The end of the second movement and the beginning of the third, Journey of Escape, gives the viewer a bit of color and optimism, according to Holston, starting with "The Quarters."
"There is a level of optimism because now we, as slaves, decide that we're going to do something about our situation, and we were very optimistic about that," he says. "A lot of the images dictate of the optimism, and some setbacks."
"Dawn of Hope" shows a change in Holston's color palette, using more vibrant colors by the end of the third movement.
"As you get to the latter part of the third movement, the colors were beginning to explode and freedom was in sight," he says.
By the fourth movement, Color in Freedom, Holston says the colors are really exploding.
"You have the light in the foreground and background … and the body language indicates that it was very promising," he says.
"Rhythm of Renewal," for instance, depicts a man playing the banjo with vibrant colors in the background. Other paintings in the fourth movement include "Color in Freedom," "Righteous Rejoicing" and "Responsibility of Freedom."
Holston says he initially thought he had a year to complete the collection for the University of Maryland, but a publisher who wanted a book of the collection told him he had six months.
"I had to remove myself from my house and take residence in my studio for the duration of six months," he says. "So I had to live and breathe what I was going through with this whole collection. I had to paint day and night."
Sometimes Holston didn’t even let the paint dry before he started his next piece.
"At times, I didn't even have time for whatever I painted to dry. So I switched from one canvas to the next to keep the flow going," he says.
Hartshorn says the exhibition has had amazing feedback so far.
"I have talked to a few people after they have walked through the galleries and it seems like everyone has the same reaction," Hartshorn says. "The pieces aren't just visually beautiful, they tell a very important story as well."
Holston’s "Color in Freedom: Journey Along the Underground Railroad" is currently on display at the Pensacola Museum of Art through April 4.
Mary Hartshorn, director of communications at the Pensacola Museum of Art, says the exhibition is wonderful addition to the community that people will appreciate and enjoy.
"The museum is very lucky to be able to display such a powerful body of work," she says. "I'm really happy we can share this with our community."
The collection of 49 paintings, etchings and drawings, consists of four different movements, which Holston calls The Unknown World, Living in Bondage, Journey of Escape and Color in Freedom.
Holston says creating the narrative and emotional journey was the biggest hurdle to overcome.
"I had to try to figure out how to tell a story without really knowing the ins and outs and the ups and the downs of the Underground Railroad," he says.
Breaking it down like a composer of classical music, Holston was able to create a beginning, middle and end to the story. Submerging himself into the story, however, was no easy task.
"I had to get into character, so I imagined that I was part of this unveiling story," he says. "When you get involved with something like that it's very, very emotional."
The first movement, The Unknown World, starts in Africa with "Protection" and continues with "Contemplation of Despair," "Subjugation," "Middle Passage," "Arrival," "In the Unknown" and "On the Block."
Holston says each painting depicts what one might have encountered when going through this journey.
"The first movement was my need to establish with the audience what would really happened at that time, and then introduce them to what was really taking place as far as being captured by potential slave owners and having to go through this transition from freedom to slavery," he says.
Holston says the second movement, Living in Bondage, is pretty self-explanatory, "but there also is going through that ordeal of being told what to do, when to do it, how to do it and all of that.
"All of these things are what I felt would be emotional as far as what I probably would be going through myself, and the plight of my journey through this," he says. "There are certain things that you have to come to grips with in that particular movement."
Holston communicates the emotion of this movement through using or not using color, and body language.
"The color would dictate the gloom and doom of what was happening at that particular time, and also the body language is very, very important," he says.
The gloom and doom was very real to Holston, who says this collection is the most expensive, emotional and grueling work he's ever done.
"The first and second movement, that was kind of rough," he says. "I had to understand and I had to deal with that, and it was real."
The end of the second movement and the beginning of the third, Journey of Escape, gives the viewer a bit of color and optimism, according to Holston, starting with "The Quarters."
"There is a level of optimism because now we, as slaves, decide that we're going to do something about our situation, and we were very optimistic about that," he says. "A lot of the images dictate of the optimism, and some setbacks."
"Dawn of Hope" shows a change in Holston's color palette, using more vibrant colors by the end of the third movement.
"As you get to the latter part of the third movement, the colors were beginning to explode and freedom was in sight," he says.
By the fourth movement, Color in Freedom, Holston says the colors are really exploding.
"You have the light in the foreground and background … and the body language indicates that it was very promising," he says.
"Rhythm of Renewal," for instance, depicts a man playing the banjo with vibrant colors in the background. Other paintings in the fourth movement include "Color in Freedom," "Righteous Rejoicing" and "Responsibility of Freedom."
Holston says he initially thought he had a year to complete the collection for the University of Maryland, but a publisher who wanted a book of the collection told him he had six months.
"I had to remove myself from my house and take residence in my studio for the duration of six months," he says. "So I had to live and breathe what I was going through with this whole collection. I had to paint day and night."
Sometimes Holston didn’t even let the paint dry before he started his next piece.
"At times, I didn't even have time for whatever I painted to dry. So I switched from one canvas to the next to keep the flow going," he says.
Hartshorn says the exhibition has had amazing feedback so far.
"I have talked to a few people after they have walked through the galleries and it seems like everyone has the same reaction," Hartshorn says. "The pieces aren't just visually beautiful, they tell a very important story as well."
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