Luise Ross Gallery Hosts BILL TRAYLOR A Master on Cardboard

Cardboard, Showcard Color, an unerring sense of geometry, proportion, and wit make Bill Traylor a timeless master. Luise Ross Gallery presents a rarely seen body of the artist's work.

The gallery has been a champion of this self-taught artist's work since its inception in 1983. It was at this time Traylor came to prominence in the noteworthy Black Folk Art in America exhibition at The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. In general, the artist focused on three basic categories: the figure, animals, and common objects. Using a pencil, a straight edge and poster paint, this self-taught master conveys an unparalleled sophistication of expression. His work has been included in major exhibitions not only in the United States but in Europe and the Far East as well.

In 1940, Jay Leavell, the editor of the New South newsletter wrote of Bill Traylor, "His studio is the street corner, his gallery, the brick wall of a Negro pool room from which he ‘usually sells ‘em in lots of 6 or 8 for 80 cents.' "

Traylor's work is in many major museum collections such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, and the National Museum of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.

Title: Bill Traylor: A Master on Cardboard

Dates: 24 February - 16 April 2011