Get ready to spark a colorful adventure for your family with "The River is the Road: Paintings by George Rodrigue" at Masur Museum of Art! This vibrant exhibition is a fantastic way to introduce your children to the world of art, featuring none other than the iconic Blue Dog, a character that has captured hearts worldwide. Just as beloved as the famous animated 'bluey' dog, but with a twist of unique cultural heritage from Louisiana, seeing George Rodrigue's original Blue Dog is sure to be an unforgettable experience for your family. Mark your calendars for May 23rd - October 19th, 2024, and don't miss out on the special Gallery Talk with Wendy Rodrigue on October 17th, 2024. This is more than just an art exhibit; it's a gateway to imagination and creativity for the whole family!
GALLERY TALK WITH WENDY RODRIGUE:
Date: Thursday, October 17, 2024
Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm (Talk Begins at 7:00 pm)
Cost: FREE for Masur Museum Members, $10.00 for Non-Members, $20.00 on the day of the event.
The museum will also be auctioning a SIGNED and framed George Rodrigue Blue Dog screenprint. This work will be on display at the exhibition and will be sold via an online silent auction.
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| Photo Credit: Masur Museum of Art - Left: Alice in Wonderland (2009), Sea of Heartbreak (2004) |
MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST:
Born and raised in New Iberia, Louisiana, George Rodrigue (1944-2013) received his formal training at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now UL Lafayette) followed by the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles, California. Unlike his classmates, he risked returning home, bravely choosing Louisiana over California and New York to pursue a career in painting. The year was 1969, and Rodrigue felt Masur Museum compelled, he said, “to graphically interpret the Cajun culture,” something the young artist recognized as disappearing in the modern world. His keen observation regarding his heritage, as well as the landscape of Southwest Louisiana, led Rodrigue on an extraordinary artistic and personal journey over the next 45 years. Furthermore, his simple, heartfelt decision to return home to Louisiana ultimately catapulted him to world-renowned status.
Rodrigue noted in his book, The Cajuns of George Rodrigue (1976, Oxmoor House), that when the Cajuns arrived from Canada following Le Grand Dérangement in 1755, “The waterways of Louisiana were the highways. We had no roads; we just had the water. They were the natural fairways for commerce, development, and everything necessary for settlers to expand.”
In Rodrigue’s paintings, the roads and rivers blend as one, and are one and the same. Rejecting the spacious sky of traditional European-style paintings, he pushes a large oak to the front of his canvas, cropping the top of the tree so that the light shines in the distance and is small beneath the branches. In hundreds of his paintings, it is a river or road that invites the viewer into Rodrigue’s imaginary world, one that feels like Louisiana, and onto a painted path that leads to a symbolic, hopeful light. When the Blue Dog enters Rodrigue’s world, his paintings become increasingly more colorful, reflecting changes in his life and outlook. Unlike the black bayous of his Cajun paintings, Rodrigue’s Blue Dog
interpretations are surreal in both design and color. Oftentimes the rivers are blue, red, yellow, and abstracted, blending and swirling almost indiscernibly with the land and sky. Ultimately, paintings from the last year of Rodrigue’s life, as featured in this exhibition, ponder his life’s journey as never before, borrowing from the symbolism of his early paintings and the optimism of his later ones. In these intensely personal expressions, Rodrigue once again invites us into his world with a river, this time contemplating not only his
life’s journey and artistic legacy, but also, with hope and curiosity, the next part of his adventure.
MEMBERSHIP PERKS:
Sign up for membership at www.masurmuseum.org. There are perks to membership including discounts on any ticketed events such as art classes and more. Of course, being a member get you into this event for FREE!
Masur Museum of Art:
The Masur Museum of Art is the largest collecting and exhibiting institution of modern and contemporary art in Northeast Louisiana. We are dedicated to bringing dynamic public programming to our community that emphasizes artists from Louisiana, the Southeast, and around the world. The Masur Museum of Art is a division of the City of Monroe’s Department of Community Affairs. Exhibitions and educational programs are funded by the Twin City Art Foundation. The Masur Museum’s mission is to provide a quality visual arts experience through temporary exhibitions, educational programs, and collections management for the citizens of Monroe and the community of Northeast Louisiana.
