Donnie Copeland

STRIA
WORKS ON PAPER
INSTALLATION VIEWS

WORKS ON PAPER

INSTALLATION VIEWS

Boots Baby Boats

ABOUT

STATEMENT

RESUME

STATEMENT

An Emphasis on Substance

For the last few years I have been painting in a way that places a greater emphasis on the stuff of which paintings are made. I enjoy this mode for a number of reasons. Mainly, this sort of approach allows for a rich enjoyment of both the material of painting and the process of painting. These are two elements of painting that have become paramount for me as an artist. Even so, the end result is no less important than the making. In this mode I am interested in what the paintings are rather than what they might be a picture of. In this sense the term real is turned on its head. Don't get me wrong about real and realism; both are equally of interest and value. The topic of real makes me think of meaning, and regardless of the state of these paintings or the metaphorical devices employed, meanings still abound.

The title of this exhibit An Emphasis on Substance is meant in a number of ways. I have already spoken of the substance of painting, the processes and materials involved. On one level, the paintings are about these things. In another way, on the other side of process and making is looking. The works are certainly about looking, and looking is really about you, the viewer. You are an important part of the art experience. Another part of this experience to consider is what the paintings represent, a murky area for me. I say murky since what the paintings represent at least partially exists in my head. I am cautious of divulging too much about this topic to the viewer for fear of spoiling all the fun. If I say the work is about one thing and you take offense at the idea, the conflict stands to spoil the entire experience of looking. So, I withhold information and title works with serial numbers and phrases like Stria 33 (Charcoal and Zinc White) . I do this in hopes of encouraging looking and discouraging a certain kind of conflict since conflict can so easily get out of hand.

What I will tell you is that the works are informed and respond to environmental stimuli. Landscape, be it striations in hillside cutaways, rice fields along the Mississippi or a guy with orange hair walking down the street in the most quintessential of urban experiences, the environment is a major player in shaping these works. Music, from traditional Yoruba bata drumming to popular and unpopular pop music the world over, plays another important role. There is rhythm and emotion conveyed through high and low forms of music, or whichever art form, and I respond to such stimuli. In this light, the work could be seen as a picture of emotion, taking something without form and giving it form. This is an especially exciting for me and is an essential function that art performs. I am fond of the writings of Susanne Langer, a 20th century aesthetician. In her essay Expressiveness she says wonderful things like, "art objectifies the subjective realm [and] expresses a conception of life, emotion, [and] inward reality" and that it is "a developed metaphor, a non-discursive symbol that articulates what is verbally ineffable." While she is probably seen as an outdated outsider to really high-minded art theory, I couldn't agree with her more.

Some time ago I asked myself what is essential for me about painting. I came to the well-known conclusion that it is ultimately material, or substance, on a surface. That substance, whatever it may be, is very important.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/34445160_N03/

RESUME

Education

2005 Master of Fine Art, Painting, Master of Arts in Art (2003), University of Dallas, Irving, Texas

2000 Bachelor of Arts, Studio Art (Cum Laude), Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

Selected Exhibitions , solo exhibits in bold.

2011

An Emphasis on Substance, Russell Fine Art Gallery

Henderson State University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

53rd Delta Exhibition, Arkansas Arts Center, Little Rock, Arkansas

Juror: Meredith Ward, president of Meredith Ward Fine Art, New York City

2010

An Emphasis on Substance, Boger Gallery, College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Missouri

Justus Fine Art Gallery, April and November showing, Hot Springs, Arkansas

Small Works on Paper: 23nd Annual Exhibition, Organized by the Arkansas Arts Council

Juror: Suzanne Bloom, Professor, University of Houston School of Art

Aspects of Abstraction, Trinity Gallery, Arkansas Historical Museum, Little Rock, Arkansas

2009

Small Works on Paper: 22nd Annual Exhibition, Organized by the Arkansas Arts Council

Juror: Edwin Pinkston, professor emeritus, Louisiana Tech University School of Art

Troika 7, Dragon Hall, Norwich, England

6X6X2009, Rochester Contemporary Art Center, Rochester, New York

2008

23rd Annual International Exhibition, Meadows Gallery, The University of Texas at Tyler

Juror: Barry Whistler, owner and director, Barry Whistler Gallery, Dallas, Texas

Striations, Xnihilo Gallery, Houston, Texas

Striations: From There to Here, Louisiana College, Pineville, Louisiana

Caddo River Artists Guild Studio Tour, 702 Clinton, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

2007

The Inaugural Exhibit, Bellwether Gallery, Springfield, Missouri

Exquisite Corpse Exhibition, Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, South Carolina

The Front Porch, Springfield, Missouri

2006

MOAK 4 State Regional Exhibition 2006, Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, Missouri

Juror: Katie Geha, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State Univ.

Parallel Perpendicular, Tarrant County College, Southeast Campus, Arlington, Texas

2005

Donnie Copeland: Paintings, Irving Arts Center, Irving, Texas

Art St. Louis XXI, Art St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri

Juror: Christian Rattemeyer, art critic, Assoc. Curator, Museum of Modern Art, Department of Drawings

2004

Brookhaven College School of Art Faculty, Forum Gallery,

Brookhaven College, Farmers Branch, Dallas, Texas

New Texas Talent X

Craighead-Green Gallery, Dallas, Texas

Juror: Janet Kutner, art critic, Dallas Morning News.

The Nature of the Work

Gorman Lecture Center, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas

2003 Master of Arts in Art Thesis Exhibition

Upper Gallery, Haggerty Arts Village, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas

The Black and White Exhibition

2nd Floor Gallery, Grayson County College, Denison, Texas

2002 Visions International Competition 2002

Art Center Waco, Waco, Texas

Juror: Peter Frank, independent critic, correspondent for ARTnews

Professional and Related Experience

2007-2008 Assistant Professor of Visual Art

Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

2006-2007 Art Instructor

New Covenant Academy, Springfield, Missouri

2005-2007 Photographer

Flash Photo, Inc. Branson, Missouri

2004-2005 Adjunct Instructor. Instructor of an Art Appreciation course emphasizing the development of

visual and aesthetic awareness in students.

Brookhaven College, Farmers Branch, Dallas, Texas

2004 Assistant to Lyle Novinski on his tour, Eternal Cities 2004: Rome, Florence and the Veneto.

2003 Guest Essayist, Be Still, an exhibition devoted to the still life as subject matter. Curated by

Christine Bisetto.

Haggerty Gallery, University of Dallas, Irving, Texas

2001-2002 Art Instructor.

Grand Prairie Independent School District, Grand Prairie, Texas

Visiting Artist Lectures and Conference Presentations

2010 Finding and Reclaiming: Making Use of the Natural and Man-Made and the Hope for Stronger

Connections

Green, Greener, Greenest: Romancing Nature Again

National Conference on Liberal Arts and the Education of Artists

The Humanities and Sciences Department of the School of Visual Arts

Guest Lecturer. Lecture and workshop coincides with the exhibit An Emphasis on Substance

Boger Gallery, College of the Ozarks, Point Lookout, Missouri

2009 Portfolio presentation. 2009 CIVA Biennial Conference.

Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota

2008 Guest Lecturer. Lecture coincides with the exhibit Striations: From There to Here

Louisiana College, Pineville, Louisiana

2006 Guest Lecturer. Lecture coincides with the exhibit Parallel Perpendicular.

Tarrant County College, Southeast Campus, Arlington, Texas

Honors

2009 Faculty Growth Plan Grant

Funds were provided for research and development of drawing curriculum

Ouachita Baptist University, Arkadelphia, Arkansas

2002 Braniff Full Tuition Scholarship,

University of Dallas, Irving, Texas

2001 Honorable Mention,

Grand Prairie Arts Council, Grand Prairie, Texas

Travel Abroad

Belgium, Benin, England, France, Italy, Kenya, Nigeria (Resident: 1980-1996), the Netherlands,

Panama, Scotland, Switzerland, Tanzania, Togo.

Published Exhibit Catalogs/Exhibits in Print

CIVA Visions Juried Exhibit 2009-2010

Exhibit in print, Christians in the Visual Arts 2009-2010 Directory.

Juror: James Romaine, art historian and professor of art history at Bethel Universitys New York Center

for Art & Media Studies

C-15b . published artwork. MOAK 4-State Regional Exhibition 2006, Exhibition Catalog, Springfield Art

Museum, Springfield, Missouri, 2006: 8.

Donald Copeland , published artists statement, Visions International Competition, Exhibition Catalog,

Waco, Texas: Art Center Waco, Art Center Waco, Waco, Texas. 2002: 7.

Selected Bibliography

"Arkadelphia artist displays work at HSU", Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Tri-Lakes Edition, 3 February

2011: T1.

"No joke: Delta is back", Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 21 December 2010: 1E, 6E.

"Creating a Sense of Community", Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Tri-Lakes Edition, 6 December 2009:

T1.

"Area Artists have work on display in Small Works on Paper Exhibit," Arkansas Democrat Gazette, 1

January 2009: 56.

Photograph. Springfield News-Leader, 17 November 2006: 1C.

Vinum Vulgi. Photograph. Dallas Morning News: Guide, The, 25 July 2003: Guide 48.

Photograph. Irving Art Center: Art Connection, Summer 2002: 7.

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donniecopeland_gmail.com

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