HOW TO GO
What: 2012 Fine Art Faculty Exhibition
Featured artist: Curtis Barnes, Sr.
Where: Building 13, galleries at Sinclair Community College, 444 W. Third St., Dayton
When: Continues through Oct. 3
More info: (937) 512-2253 or www.sinclair.edu/arts/galleries
Sinclair Community College is honoring one of its own in a big way. Curtis Barnes Sr. has a storied legacy of 17 years of art instruction on campus, and he is the featured artist in its most elite venue: the Burnell R. Roberts Triangle Gallery.
The show is part of the annual exhibit that honors the fine-art faculty at Sinclair. It was curated by one of his sons, Curtis Barnes Jr.
Gallery coordinator Pat McClelland said, “Like all good artists, he (Barnes Sr.) makes references to art history; you see Jackson Pollack’s and Cezanne’s influence. But he takes their individual style and makes it his own.”
The large-scale, acrylic on canvas “Homage to Jackson Pollack,” completed in 1994, is a multihued abstract running through and over a dark veinous route. It reaches a crescendo with dribbles and drips of red and white paint on top. Of course, only oil would do for Barnes’ “Homage to Cezanne.” The warm-colored round fruit dots several layers of white linens in an energetic still life.
“Images that I express reflect my fears, ignorance and superstitions regarding the mysteries of the universe,” Barnes said.
McClelland was a past art student of Barnes, and Barnes’ teaching inspired McClelland to become serious about being an artist. Christy Jennewein of The Cannery space in Dayton is another local artist who had him as an art instructor and admires his work.
“Teaching students was the part of my career that I really enjoyed. It makes it all worthwhile because every now and then I see them when I’m out, or I hear from them,” said Barnes. “It lets me know that students appreciate what I did for them in the classroom, and it’s way beyond what I do as an artist.”
His influence got his son, Curtis Jr., into the business of fine art. He began Cobalt Blue Fine Art to represent artists worldwide.
“My son comes and takes the paintings out for my exhibits. Usually when he comes and picks out something, I tell him if he can have it or not,” said Barnes Sr. “Normally, I wouldn’t have let him take that piece,” Barnes said about a large-scale untitled acrylic on canvas hanging in the Triangle Gallery that was inspired by something personal. It’s abstract realism exploding with color.
“It is a familial-inspired work that identifies members of his family, whose names frame the composition. The names include his grandparents, parents, wife, siblings and children,” said Curtis Barnes Jr. “The multiple masklike images can be seen as eggs or seeds, which express the continuum of life and family.”
Barnes Sr. did allow that the works his son chooses do tend to get the most responses from viewers.
“I’m really interested in color more than anything else. Not so much form, but color and design,” said Barnes. “After that, I leave everything else fairly open-ended.”
Barnes has a bachelor of science degree in art education from Wright State University. He’s been an art educator for five years at Dayton Public Schools and 17 years at Sinclair. He won the Paul Laurence Dunbar Humanitarian Award in 1994 and was given the title of professor emeritus from Sinclair in 1995.
“I think of myself as artist/husband, artist/father, artist/grandfather, artist/great-grandfather and artist/educator; not so much by design, but by psycho-historical … forces which shape my attitude, behavior, and actions,” Barnes said. “I don’t know is what I do as an artist has any significant meaning, other than the fact that I am the one doing it.”
Barnes has shown his work in many solo and group exhibits, and he was honored as one of the “Dayton Skyscrapers” in Bing Davis’ numerous exhibits of that title. He has private collections in several states and public collections at the University of Dayton, Dayton Public Library/Westwood Branch and several others.
Besides Barnes, other Fine Art Faculty pieces line the Works on Paper gallery, and 3-D works fill the glass cases at the Hypotenuse Gallery. Some notable works include “Sea Rhythm” by Mark Echtner, “Talking Buddha” by Leigh Waltz and “Closer to the Truth” by McClelland.
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