Senate Resolution 20

A RESOLUTION EXTENDING THE RECOGNITION OF THE MISSISSIPPI SENATE TO INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ARTIST ED MCGOWIN AS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2023 GOVERNOR'S ARTS AWARD FOR LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT.

WHEREAS, the Governor's Arts Awards Program has announced its 2023 recipients, which include internationally renowned painter and conceptual artist Ed McGowin as the recipient of the 2023 Governor's Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement; and

WHEREAS, established in 1988, Governor's Arts Awards are given to individuals and organizations to recognize outstanding work in the artistic disciplines, as well as arts-based community development and arts patronage in Mississippi. The awards are presented in partnership with the Governor's Office and signify the important relationship between government and the arts; and

WHEREAS, Ed McGowin is an internationally renowned artist who has traveled to more than 100 countries, but his roots run deep in south Mississippi. The director of the Lowe Art Museum in Miami says that the first time Ed McGowin meets anyone, he tells them he was born in Hattiesburg; and

WHEREAS, McGowin was born in Hattiesburg in 1938. He graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi and earned his master's degree from the University of Alabama. McGowin moved to Washington, D.C. in 1962 where he worked on his art while serving as an aid to Mississippi Congressman William M. Colmer. During the 1970s, McGowin lived in the nation's capital along with fellow Mississippi-born artists William Dunlap and Sam Gilliam. Together they witnessed and steered a revolution in American painting known as the Color Field Movement; and

WHEREAS, from 1970 to 1972, McGowin created his best-known series: Name Change. Mr. McGowin legally changed his name twelve times and created a body of work under each new name. McGowin says the name changes freed his approach and creative position, resulting in a remarkably diverse series of works. For example, under the name "Thornton Dossett," he carved wood hangings, made prints and memorialized folk heroes. "Nicholas Gregory Nazianzen," on the other hand, made detailed paintings depicting dark scenes of chaos which are surrounded by hand-carved frames. In 1976, McGowin moved to New York City where he continues to live and work with his wife, artist Claudia DeMonte; and

WHEREAS, though he trained as a painter, McGowin has created paintings, sculptures, conceptual art projects, films, writings and public art installations. He pioneered the use of vacuum-forming to create distinct abstract forms in a variety of new materials. While deeply ensconced in the cosmopolitan art world of New York, his work often reveals his Southern roots; and

WHEREAS, McGowin's works are in the collections of many leading institutions, including the Whitney, the Hirshhorn, and Guggenheim museums, and the Mississippi Museum of Art, among others. The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. and the American Cultural Center in Paris, France, have hosted some of his many solo exhibitions; and

WHEREAS, it is with great pride that we pay tribute and express appreciation for the talent of a Mississippi-born artistic leader who has made Mississippi a better place and exemplifies the artistic traditions of our great state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby extend the recognition of the Mississippi Senate to internationally renowned artist Ed McGowin as the recipient of the 2023 Governor's Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement and extend our congratulations to a Mississippi-born lifelong artistic leader on this auspicious occasion.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That this resolution be presented to Ed McGowin as part of the Governor's Arts Awards presentation and made available to the Capitol Press Corps.