Exhibitions - Artists: Betty Blayton and Robin Holder

Daughters of the House of Life
April 29 - June 21, 2007

Betty Blayton - Positive Thought Becoming a Thing, acrylic & mixed media on canvas, 36" round, 2007
Betty Blayton Taylor was born in New Port News, Virginia in 1937 and grew up in Williamsburg, Virginia. In Williamsburg, Betty lived with her father, mother and three siblings, Barbara, Oscar and Jimmy. With the support of her parents, Betty's passion for art led her to New York, where she attended Syracuse University. She graduated with honors in1959 with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art.

During her career as an artist and arts administrator, Blayton-Taylor has worked as an adjunct professor for the City College of New York, and served as an artist-in-residence at institutions such as Virginia State University at Norfolk, Fisk University, Brown University, and Tugaloo College. Blayton-Taylor assisted in founding the Children's Art Carnival for the Museum of Modern Art children's visual arts outreach program in 1968 and became the Executive Director of the program in 1969. A founding member of the Studio Museum of Harlem, New York in 1965, served as a board member of the Arts and Business Council in New York City, and a consultant for the City of New York Board of Education.

Her work has been exhibited in galleries and universities in the United States for more than thirty years. In Feb. of 2005 she received the Woman's Caucus for the Arts "Life Time Achievement Award in Atlanta. She has exhibited nationally and internationally, and is represented in The Metropolitan Museum, The Studio Museum of Harlem, Philip Morris and Uniworld Group Inc. Spellman Collage, Fisk University, Brown University, Norfolk State University and Togaloo College.She has been featured in radio, television documentaries including Persistence of Vision and the documentary film based on five African-African artists entitled, "Five."

Robin Holder - Five Spot 3, stencil monotype,
27"x 35"

Robin Holder was born in 1952 in Chicago, Illinois. She was born to native New Yorker parents of Russian-Jewish and African-Caribbean decent. As the child of a middle class inter-ethnic leftist family, growing up in the fifties and sixties, Robin was continuously exposed to an extraordinary world of complex realities. The social, cultural, religious world she moved in was a constant source of reflection and consideration.

After graduating from the High School of Music and Art, she attended the Arts Student League of New York and Werkgroep Uit Het Amsterdam Grafisch Atelier in Amsterdam. Robin Holder is the recipient of grants and awards from the New York State Council on The Arts, Manhattan Graphics Center, The Printmaking Workshop and Brooklyn Cable Access Television. The artist was selected by The New York Foundation for the Arts for a Public Service Announcement and featured in the premier segment the TV series Cool Women, produced by Debbie Allen.

Ms. Holder has completed seven large scale site specific public art projects. Her commission of 34 windows for New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority was installed in 2006. Holder has served as a panelist, lecturer, and consultant for a variety of cultural and educational institutions, such as The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Delaware Division of the Arts, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Museum of Natural History; New York City, Pratt Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Manhattan Community College and Parsons School of Design. variety of cultural and educational institutions, such as The NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Delaware Division of the Arts, the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Museum of Natural History; New York City, Pratt Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Cooper Hewitt Museum, Manhattan Community College and Parsons School of Design.

Source:
http://wip.nbaf.org/events/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Bios

Curator's Statement - Kevin Sipp
In ancient Kemet (Egypt) the House of Life was a place of healing and profound creativity. Artisans and healers of all types migrated to these holy temples to learn and pursue their spirit's calling. Divinely overseeing this crucible of learning was the goddess Sekmet, the Eye of Ra, she of a hundred names and innumerable powers. As the Goddess of dreams and ecstasies, arts and herbal healing, the praise of Sekmet was widespread. In African and many other world cultures the divine feminine was not some background player waiting for masculine impetus, but an active presence worthy of praise as the giver of life, both physical and metaphysical. The title of this exhibition is directly inspired by this great tradition. The divine resonances that emanate from the works of Betty Blayton and Robin Holder are sophisticated movements of shadow and light, abstraction and figurative presences. When I first saw the art of Betty Blayton and Robin Holder I perceived two artists working in their respective styles, yet seeking a common transcendence. In Blayton's paintings and prints, solid and transparent abstract forms overlay and merge into each other in translucent and fluid motions. The spirit of creative chance and improvisation is balanced by her mastery of the mediums in which she creates. This is illustrated well in her "Re-entry" series of mono-prints. The pearlescent quality of the overlay of inks creates for the viewer a sensual sense of color interplay that is inherent in the medium, yet so hard to achieve in lesser hands. Like wise the works of Robin Holder must be viewed slowly and fully to understand the richness of the imagery and the intensity of the labor involved in their creation. Using a technique to create compositions made from various stencil plates pieced together in joyfully painstaking detail, Holder builds up layer upon layer of color and form. What is eventually achieved is a balance of subdued tonal plays of light. Whether inspired by ancient Aztec cultural forms or the spirit of jazz, Holder shows a consistency and mastery of color and composition. Bringing these master artists together for a two person show is an honor for the Hammonds House and an artistic treat for the greater public. The beauty of their work speaks directly to the heart of our humanity and to our continuing reach for communion with the divine. Enjoy

Special Acknowledgement and Thanks to:
- Andrea Barnwell, Director, Spelman College Museum of Fine Art
- Women's Caucus for Art
- The Buckhead Cascade Chapter, The Links Incorporated

Tour Information:

Call 404.612.0500 for information about guided educational tours.
Available with the exhibit - "Viewpoint" a children's interactive handout developed for each exhibition and the video tape viewing of the artist talk.
Ask about the West End Cultural Tour which includes a Hammonds House Museum tour and a visit to the Wren's Nest House Museum.