Reception Jan. 23 at Sandburg for Exhibit of New Works by Larry Jon Davis

GALESBURG—An opening reception featuring new works by local artist Larry Jon Davis will take place 6-8 p.m. Jan. 23 in the Building D Gallery on Carl Sandburg College’s Main Campus in Galesburg, 2400 Tom L. Wilson Blvd.

The exhibit, which features 21 oil paintings, is on display through March 16. The exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

A native of Clinton, Iowa, Davis earned a bachelor’s in Fine Art at the University of Iowa before entering the U.S. Air Force. He then returned to the Midwest to begin his professional arts career and work toward his master’s degree at Iowa. In 1986, Davis and his wife, Jacquie, moved to Jacksonville, Fla., where he began a 23-year career at Florida State College as a professor of art and later art department coordinator. After finishing his master’s at Jacksonville University, Davis continued an active artistic output and exhibition schedule. His retirement in 2010 signaled a return to full-time studio activity, and in 2012 he relocated Davis Studio to Knoxville for a return to the Midwest culture and landscape that has long inspired him.

“The works in this exhibition are a culmination of the five decades of experimentation with color and with gestural drawing and painting technique. Over the years, my early interest in narrative realism has gradually shifted toward abstract style. Simply put, this means I am now more interested in the lines, marks and designs from nature than in creating photographic likeness of a subject,” Davis said.

“During the past year that these works were created, my major objective has been to incorporate the limited palette techniques used by the Swedish artist Anders Zorn. Most of these paintings have been accomplished using just the four hues of yellow ochre, cadmium red hue, ivory black and permalba white along with some accent tints of magenta, dioxazine violet and ultramarine blue. This has proven to be a satisfying way of unifying the overall look of this body of work.

“It is my hope that viewers will also find pleasure in seeing this approach to depicting life forms and topographical diversity that we share here in our prairie environment.”

For more information about the exhibit or opening reception, contact Lisa Walker, art program coordinator, at 309.341.5303 or ldwalker@sandburg.edu.