Join us for a free reception to view the new exhibit, "Composition. Color. Pattern." by Kevin Babb, located in the Jones Walker Foyer.
About the Artist
During his early years, Kevin was exposed to art in everyday objects: coloring books, PLAYSKOOL blocks, mom's quilting patterns, mid-century furniture, cartoons, magazine graphics, and a treehouse, or two. In high school he was well suited for shop classes and drafting. He went to LSU and earned a Bachelor of Architecture Degree in 1981. Kevin was initially employed at Post Architects for 21 years and then with Cockfield Jackson Architects for 24 more years. All the while, Kevin continued to make art in a variety of media including drawing, painting, stained glass, making collages, frame making, furniture and cabinetry making, home remodeling, and lawn-mowing patterns.
Recently retired from architecture, Kevin will be continuing his passion for creating art. He lives in Baton Rouge, LA with his wife Carol, an educator, and their dog Lucy. They have two adult children, Nathan and Rachel.
.JPEG)
Exhibit Details
Observers will see the aesthetic language influenced by an architectural background. My inspiration has been artists and architecture from the early 1900's and the Modernism movement, the Bauhaus School, Klee, Kandinsky, de Stijl art and architecture, Art Deco, the Suprematists, Matisse and the Fauves, Le Corbusier and the International Style (1920s), and Frank Lloyd Wright.
My collage work started with using graphics, colors, and patterns from National Geographic magazines. Influenced by Henri Matisse and Eric Carle, I transitioned to painting my own paper as I was developing a series of collages for a children's picture book idea. As with the magazine material, there is the constraint of having only so much of one color or pattern. I embraced this constraint but expanded the concept by using variations on one color to create larger color fields.
Artist's Statement
I have always had a passion for collecting pictures and graphics that 'caught my eye'. I made regular trips to the library to check-out art magazines for articles and images to save. So, I started these notebooks and, over time, realized my preference was more about abstraction and colors, than landscapes and portraits. / started to favor certain artists and became interested in art and architecture from the early 1900's. This was the period when world history, architecture history, and art history crossed paths as culture was moving toward Modernism.
Modernism was characterized by the expression of functionality and simplified forms. This movement influenced the design of everyday objects, furniture, fashion, art, and architecture. In 1919, architect Walter Gropius started the Bauhaus School in Germany. This school was to be a Gesamtkunstwerk (or a'comprehensive artwork') where all the arts would be taught integrally. The faculty included an 'A-list' of artists and designers including Klee, Kandinsky, Mies van der Rohe, Bruer, Stolzl, Itten, the Albers, and many more. These artists and Modernism were forming part of my aesthetic, as did Art Deco (1920s), de Stijl art / architecture (1917 - 1931); the Suprematists (1913 -1929); Matisse and the Fauves (1904 - 1910); Le Corbusier and the International Style (1920s), and Frank Lloyd Wright.
These selections... Composition . Color . Pattern ... express my visual language influenced by those notebooks that became my aesthetic foundation.
Monday: 9am - 4pm
Tuesday - Thursday: 9am - 10 pm
Friday: 9am - 11pm
Saturday: 10am - 11pm
Sunday: 11am - 5pm
.png)