Celebrate Black History Month
with An Exhibit Of The Late Reverend Albert Wagner
One Bad Cat: The Work Of Reverend Albert Wagner
From The Wesley And Missy Cochran Collection Of LaGrange, GA
February 16, 2013 – March 16, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 16, 1013
5:30-8:00 PM: Reception with Wes and Missy Cochran
6:30 PM: Performance by the Mount Vernon Baptist Church Choir under the Direction of Michael Jones
February 18, 2013: Documentary screening and conversation led by Pastor Washington of the Mount Vernon Baptist Church. 12-2 PM. John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University. Free and open to the public but RSVP requested
About Albert Wagner: (1924 – 2006)
“Born in the Deep South, Albert Wagner came to Cleveland as an ambitious young man in search of opportunity. Despite his success as an entrepreneur and family man, Albert’s life took a wayward path as he succumbed to infidelity, alcoholism, drug use, and eventually, crime. On the eve of his 50th birthday, in jeopardy of losing his livelihood and damaging his familial relationships, Albert experienced a spiritual revelation through art. He gave up his destructive habits and became ordained as a Christian minister, henceforth creating art as the Reverend Albert Wagner. As an outsider artist, the Reverend set himself apart in artistic circles with a strong focus on spiritual themes and African American oppression. His revelatory insights are expressed with bold and colorful liveliness that is both beautiful and obscure, and yet controversial all at once. Featured in the award-winning biographical documentary, “One Bad Cat,” his work has also been publicized in The New York Times, LIFE Magazine, and by the Folk Art Society of America. The Reverend’s works are on display at the American Visionary Art Museum and in several prominent private collections.” (From artdaily.org)
For more information on Reverend Wagner:
http://creeksideartgallery.com/blog/the-art-life-of-reverend-albert-lee-wagner.html
http://www.avam.org/our-visionaries/rev-albert-wagner.shtml
For more information on Wes & Missy Cochran:
http://thedailysouth.southernliving.com/2010/02/18/georgias-warhol-collector/
