Exhibition at Ecollectif

 

I hope you are doing well. I am fortunate to share that my newest painting, inspired by “Harry Potter” , will be on view at Ecollectif on December 15th. 5 - 9 pm. It will be displayed with my series of paintings inspired by the favorite books of students from Lycée Paul Lapie. This series of paintings is aimed at encouraging students to continue reading. Students posed for the painting and helped paint the mural’s borders. Located at 1 Boulevard Aristide Briand 92400 Courbevoie, France  Accessible by M 1 or RER A - La Défense  www.ville-courbevoie.fr/1793/ecollectif-briand.htm Works are for sale. Please visit my page on etsy.com for details. These paintings were created as a project with students at Lycée Paul Lapie, in Courbevoie, to encourage them to continue reading. This piece shows students looking into a scene inspired by “The Chronicles of Narnia”, "Star Wars" and "Chevaliers d'Émeraude".

I will be one of the artists giving a short presentation at Ecollectif on my art at the Forum des Métiers this Saturday, December 11th from 2 - 6 pm. A video of the talk can be seen here.

Exhibition at Fondation des États-Unis

 

I am fortunate to share that I will have my paintings and illustrations on view in the group exhibition "Would do Again" at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris from November 3rd - 28th. Opening November 3rd , 8:30 pm. Viewings November 14th, 28th and a few more dates to be announced. Register for free at fondationdesetatsunis.org/would-do-again/ 15 Boulevard Jourdan, 75014, Paris, France Works are for sale. Contact ahaywoodstudio@gmail.com to inquire.   In this exhibition “Would do Again”, six artists in residence will show artworks they have been working on this year. With varied perspectives and diversity of techniques and media, this contemporary exposition mixes multidisciplinary techniques, such as film, animation, photography, illustration, painting and writing. The theme that ties all the work together is the idea that the phrase “Would do Again” is related to each artist continuing on an artistic path. Each of the six artists has their own vision of developing a body of work. A panel of both international and French young artists, all of which try to embody the experience of reality and fantasy, and the duality of life abroad, despite each of them belonging to a different fields of art and have their own style reflected into their pieces. Annette G. Parra, Arthur Haywood, Timothée Lambert, Libéral Martin, Mallory Mayhew, Anahita Navaei invite you to discover the world as they see it. "Dragon in the Sky" , Oil , 11 x 17 inches This piece will be a part of the permanent collection of Harriet Hale Woolley at Fondation des États-Unis   This painting shows readers watching a fantasy story coming to life. A dragon appears in the sky surrounding the Château of Fontainebleau. This piece was created as part of the 2021 centennial celebration of The Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts.  "A New Narnia" Oil and Acrylic, 5 x 5 feet This painting was created as a project with students at Lycée Paul Lapie, in Courbevoie, to encourage them to continue reading. This piece shows students looking into a scene inspired by “The Chronicles of Narnia”. “Enchanted”, Oil , 8 x 10 in 500 € This painting is inspired by Tolkien’s tale “Of Beren and Luthien”. The story of a mortal man who found eternal love in the most talented and beautiful of elves.  "Starlight", 8 x 10 inches. Inspired by Tolkien's "The Silmarillion".  “Spotlight”, Graphite and White Charcoal , 8 x 10 in 300 € This illustration was created for Nick Maron’s short story “Director’s Cut” in Space and Time Magazine issue #140. An alien actor with the ambition of success looks to the sky in hope.

"Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis

 

I am presenting my new series, "Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris. The show displays my mural project for Lycée Paul Lapie, depicting diverse students reading and the books that have excited them. The paintings will be displayed in my show "Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis , in Paris, during June, 2021. More information at www.fondationdesetatsunis.org/renaissance-lecture/   A 1 minute video describing my show ""Renaissance of Reading" at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris. I have been developing murals with students at Lycée Paul Lapie. I was fortunate to  receive a 2020-2021 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship at Fondation des États-Unis in Paris, to create these paintings since October 2020. The paintings show students looking at scenes from fantasy stories. This project is a way to encourage students to read. The paintings show how interesting the stories in books are. They are painted in a realistic style at close to life size to establish a belief in the world of stories. The paintings are based on the students’ favorite books, including The Chronicles of Narnia, Les Chevaliers d’Émeraude and Star Wars. Students also posed for the paintings and helped paint sections on the mural’s borders. Each painting celebrates learning as a unifying link between students of multicultural backgrounds in France. This appreciation of diversity is important as immigration to France continues to increase. Also the promotion of reading is important as reading remains an essential resource in education. By showing the world of stories, the paintings celebrate the appeal of books.

Click images to view larger "A New Narnia" (5 x 5 feet, Oil and Acrylic) A video of the process behind the painting on Youtube  "The World of Reading" (5 x 5 feet, Oil and Acrylic) A video of the process behind this painting on Youtube  "Space Escape" (5 x 5 feet, Oil and Acrylic) A video of the process behind this painting on Youtube  Opening on June 2nd, 5pm-8pm as part of Art-Hop-Polis Exhibition from June 2nd-16th 2021   Guided tours: June 3rd (11am), June 4th (2:30pm), June 8th (2pm) , June 9th (6pm)  Please reserve online for the opening or a guided visit:  www.fondationdesetatsunis.org/renaissance-lecture This event is a part of Art-Hop-Polis, the art hopping of the Cité international (CiuP), takes place every first Wednesday of the month from 7pm to 8.30pm.

The paintings will also be displayed on June 19th in the annual reading festival, "The Festival of Mots libres" , in Courbevoie, the town that Lycée Paul Lapie is in. An event to show the paintings at the Château de Fontainebleau is also being planned for July 14th, in collaboration with the artists and musicians in residence at Fondation des États-Unis. I will stay in touch with more information.

Paintings at Woodmere Art Museum

 

Two of my paintings will be on view at the Woodmere Art Museum in their annual "Seeing the Story" Exhibition. While this exhibition, originally scheduled for summer of 2020, was delayed until this year, I was fortunate that my mother could drop the paintings off while I am in Paris. Both paintings in the exhibition are from my book My book "The Great Library", an overview of scholars from the ancient library of Alexandria in Egypt. "Embark Discovery", Oil, 17 x 30 inches                                     "A Cure", Oil, 9 x 12 inches More information at Woodmereartmuseum.org   Woodmere Art Museum   9201 Germantown Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118

I’m also fortunate to announce that I’m one of 20 artists selected for MuralArts’ 2021 Philadelphia Fellowship for Black Artists! This virtual Fellowship, presented by TD Bank, will be supporting my paintings with $2,000 in unrestricted funding. I’ll also be receiving financial planning sessions, social media promotion, and evaluative sessions with awesome curators from Rush Arts Philadelphia, HAHA Magazine, and StreetsDept.com.  Follow Mural Arts and check back soon for a full feature of my work on their Instagram page, and learn more about the 2021 Cohort HERE

Mural Update

 

I am sharing an update on my mural project for Lycée Paul Lapie depicting diverse students reading and the books that have excited them. The scene has been painted on this painting based on "Les Chevaliers d'Émeraude ". Les Chevaliers d'Émeraude (5 x 5 feet) I am continuing my murals showing stories coming to life thanks to the 2020-2021 Harriet Hale Woolley Scholarship at the Fondation des Etats-Unis in Paris.  Since October, I have been developing murals with students at Lycée Paul Lapie depicting diverse students reading and the books that have excited them. The most popular three designs were for Les Chevaliers d'Émeraude, Chronicles of Narnia and Star Wars. Students posed for the characters. The idea is to show students looking into the world of stories to excite them about reading.

This week I took the paintings from my studio at Fondation Des États-Unis to Lycée Paul Lapie for students to paint the borders. They did a great job and it was a fun session. Now back to the studio to finish the 3 paintings. The finished paintings will be displayed at the school in May and at Fondation Des États-Unis in June 2021. I will stay in touch with updates as the project develops. I shared a bit of the process behind the paintings on my blog arthaywood.blogspot.com

A look into my Mural Process

A bit of the process behind the paintings in my mural project for Lycée Paul Lapie. These paintings are based on Les Chevaliers d'Émeraude , Chronicles of Narnia.  I am developing them in my studio at Fondation Des États-Unis in Paris. 

From transferring the designs to canvas, underpainting in value and color and completing the painting in more detail from the background to portraits.

Chronicles of Narnia

Transferring the design to canvas

Underpainting in value 

Underpainting in color

The painting based on Star Wars is in the process of being transferred to canvas.

Les Chevaliers d'Émeraude

Underpainting in value 

Underpainting in color

Final Layer

Completing in more detail from the background to portraits

I will stay in touch with updates as the project develops.