OXFORD, Miss. – With subjects ranging from Jell-O to iced tea, Lou Haney describes her paintings as bright, big, absurd, funny, weird, sarcastic and sincere.
Haney, an assistant professor of art at the University of Mississippi, exhibits her paintings at the University Museum beginning Jan. 12. Free to the public, the exhibit runs through March 6 and is sponsored by Friends of the Museum. An artist reception is set for 5-7 p.m. Jan. 26 at the museum.
“My paintings are an eclectic mix of subjects,” said Haney, whose exhibitions have appeared from Virginia to California. “They appeal to my conceptual focus and to my love of color, surface and pattern.”
A native of Decatur, Ala., Haney prefers to use Golden acrylic paints for her work because of their low toxicity and ease of cleanup.
“The Golden paint has a high pigment load, which results in saturated colors,” she explained. “I think the plastic quality of the paint feeds into my concept.”
The contemporary nature of her work makes for an ideal exhibit at the museum, said museum director William Andrews. He believes the exhibit illustrates how the local visual arts culture relates both to the contemporary art world and also to its own artistic history.
“Lou’s paintings are visually charged and work on many levels,” Andrews said. “At a distance, there is certainly a cohesive image that represents an idea, and then you get up close and notice all the marks and brushwork and drips of paint that help you realize the work is dynamic and expressive as an object. It’s exciting when an artist gives you something to look at on different levels of perspective and perception.”
Haney said her artistic palette is influenced by advertising, pop culture and contemporary culture.
“The color borders on garish,” she said. “It is oversaturated, just like the palette of the source of the image. The paintings are bright, shiny and over the top.”
In 2008, the Mississippi Arts Commission awarded Haney a Mississippi Individual Artists Fellowship, and this past summer, she attended the MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. Before joining the UM faculty in 2007, Haney chaired the art and design department at Tusculum University.
Haney received her bachelor’s degree with a studio concentration from Rhodes College and completed her master’s work in painting at Claremont Graduate University, where she earned the President’s Award.
The University Museum is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. For more information, visit http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/u_museum.