Art Exhibit on Community, Place, Identity Displayed at UA’s Paul R. Jones Gallery

TUSCALOOSA , Ala. – More than 25 photographs, lithographs and digital collages centered on the theme of “Photography Speaks: Community, Place, and Identity” are on display at The University of Alabama’s Paul R. Jones Gallery of Art in downtown Tuscaloosa through Feb. 20.

A reception will be held at the gallery Feb. 6 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Both the exhibit and reception are free and open to the public.

The exhibit was curated by UA Master of Fine Arts student Christopher Davenport and features works by artists Sheila Pree Bright, William J. Anderson and others.

All of the works on display are part of the Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art at UA.

Bright has become known as a new voice in contemporary photography as a result of her recent exhibitions, which combine a wide-ranging knowledge of contemporary culture with challenging perceptions of identity.

Two of her “Young American” portraits featuring members of Generation Y, which she took while traveling across the United States, are on display.

Anderson, an American by birth, completed his Master of Fine Arts at Instituto Allende in San Miguel, Mexico. Two photographs he took while in Mexico, “Fiesta” and “The Peasant,” are on display.

“Photography Speaks visualizes universal concepts of place, community and identity through traditional and contemporary treatments of the photograph as a social and cultural document,” Davenport said.

The gallery honors the late Paul R. Jones who, during his lifetime, amassed one of the largest collections of African American art in the world. Jones donated more than 2,100 pieces of his collection, now valued at $10.3 million, to UA in 2008. Jones was known as a passionate collector who sought to collect from both well-known and lesser-known artists, a quality which makes his collection distinct.

The Paul R. Jones Gallery is located at 2308 6th St. in downtown Tuscaloosa. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and the first Friday of every month from noon to 8 p.m.

The Paul R. Jones Collection of American Art is part of UA’s College of Arts and Sciences, the University’s largest division and the largest liberal arts college in the state. Students from the College have won numerous national awards including Rhodes Scholarships, Goldwater Scholarships and memberships on the USA Today Academic All American Team.