March 26 - May 14, 2022
From William Campbell Gallery:
“Since his last Show at William Campbell Gallery in 2017, Frank X. Tolbert 2 has continued working on the Texas Bird Project which began in 2014. This new body of work is called Live Wire, an homage to the underdog of birds, the grackle. Among many they are not a well-respected bird, but a friend of Frank’s from Europe, who also has a home here, remarked that when she comes to Texas and sees a grackle, it makes her feel like she’s really back.
Frank is also attracted to grackles because of their strong silhouette, their intelligence, their iridescence, and their odd vocalizations. Seeing a barren tree full of grackles brings his attention to the background – the sky which is pure abstraction with lines and marks running through it.
Frank works on canvas in oil sticks, oil paints, and pencils. His technique has been referred to as “Tosco,” which in Spanish means “rough.” Katherine Brimberry of Flatbed Press has described Frank’s technique as “scumbling,” which she observed while he was working on prints at her press in Austin.
Regarding his work, Frank agrees with a quote by Pamela York, a jazz pianist, who said about her own work “I have one foot in tradition, and one foot in the future.”
Reception: March 26, 2022 | 6–8 pm
William Campbell Contemporary Art
4935 Byers Avenue
Fort Worth, 76107 TX
(817) 737-9566
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Correction: This exhibition, Frank X. Tolbert2,LIVE WIRE will be up through May 14, 2022 at William Campbell, Fort Worth, Texas