July 7 - August 18, 2023
From K Space Contemporary:
“K Space Contemporary is pleased to present an exclusive exhibition of the “Jean Walters Art Collection.” Over a period spanning seven decades, Jean Walters developed a keen eye for fine art and craft and amassed an eclectic collection of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, ceramics, furniture and fine craft pieces. While the majority of her collection is in Modern American styles, other styles and cultures (African, Asian, Native American, etc.) are represented. An exceptional feature of this exhibition is the large selection of serigraphs by renowned New York artist Will Barnet. This extraordinary exhibition is a must-see for serious art collectors!
Jean Walters (1930 – 2022) grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana and Houston, Texas. She married a military man and raised three children, eventually achieving a Master’s degree and enjoying a 40-year career in Psychiatric social work. After many years in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she moved to Portland, Texas to live near her daughter in her final years. She died just shy of her 92nd birthday.
Early on, Walters made the decision to make Art a priority in her life and began to surround herself with beautiful works of art and well-crafted utilitarian objects. She purchased her first piece as a 20-year old flight attendant during a stop in Germany. Walters shopped galleries, craft fairs and artists’ studios, always opting for creative, original designs over things found in department stores. Works by mumerous artists are included in the exhibition, as well as, fine craft items and Mid-Century Modern furniture designs by the likes of Paul McCobb and Danish designers.
Walters’ favorite artist was New York City painter and printmaker Will Barnet. With over 80 pieces by Barnet, Walters’ holds the largest collection of Barnet’s work in the United States. Will Barnet (1911-2012) was known for his paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints depicting the human figure and animals, both in casual scenes of daily life and in transcendent dreamlike worlds. Though personal in subject matter, his work carries universal themes of stillness, reflection, and solitude.
K Space Contemporary will display over thirty of Barnet’s color lithographs and serigraphs created between 1968 and 1985. In these works, Barnet ranges between a simplified form of realism (once coined ‘representational minimalism’) and a poetic, visionary symbolism. A skilled draftsman, he created exactingly linear, subtly colored portraits of family members and friends. In the enigmatic pictures he began making in the 1970s, he conjured images of women in dark woods or on the porches of seaside houses who appear to be waiting for loved ones.
Barnet studied at the Art Students League of New York with Stuart Davis and Charles Locke. Concentrating on painting and printmaking, he became the official printer for the Art Students League in 1936, remaining in that position 43 years. There, he printed for Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco and instructed students in the graphic arts. As an instructor, he influenced a generation of artists, including James Rosenquist and Cy Twombly. Barnet continued his love of teaching with positions at the Cooper Union, at Yale University, and at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. He was represented by the Bertha Schaefer Gallery in New York City. Barnet’s work is included in the collections of The National Gallery of Art, the Museum of Modern Art (NYC), The Guggenheim Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, and many others.
To learn more about the exhibition, please visit our website. K Space Contemporary is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to presenting and promoting contemporary art located in downtown Corpus Christi, TX. Gallery hours are Wednesday – Saturday 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday 12 to 4 pm. K Space Contemporary is located at 623 N. Chaparral Street in downtown Corpus Christi, Texas. For more information about K Space Contemporary programs, exhibitions, and events, visit www.kspacecontemporary.org, or follow us on Instagram or Facebook @kspacecontemporary. “
Reception: July 7, 2023 | 6–9 pm
415 Starr St # D
Corpus Christi, 78401 TX
(361) 887-6834
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