The Spirit and the Flesh:
Contemporary American Realists

October 15 through December 28, 1995

In a century of deep cultural shifts and changes of sensibility, in a time of tremendous technological leaps, at a point of disturbance and concern about our relationship with Nature, at a time of globalization and tribal tensions and disintegration, of multiple quests and styles, it is almost impossible to grasp and formulate a single approach to the understanding of the human condition. Modernity has become a kind of new consciousness and awareness. The goal of our museum is to provide opportunity and environment which educate and cultivate an appreciation of beauty. Here, art is a medium for the elevation of the spirit above and beyond, yet rooted in, everyday life. To experience a lightening of the spirit, to sense a place of spiritual elevation, where perception and thought are clarified and where feeling itself is intensified -- the inner place of transcending and being transparent. A painting by Rembrandt, Monet, or Georgia O'Keeffe, a sculpture of Michelangelo or Bernini: a work by a good artist always inspires this feeling of escape and spiritual elevation. It confirms the almost religious awe toward life. The Spirit and the Flesh: Contemporary American Realists brought together four ardent realist painters -- Ben Long, Richard Maury, D. Jeffrey Mims, and Nelson Shanks.

Additional works by Richard Maury may be viewed at the John Pence Gallery.

Additional works by Jeffrey Mims may be viewed at the Mims Studios

Read more about Ben Long from the Grennings Gallery: Biography | Self Portrait

For additional information about Oglethorpe University Museum events, call (404) 364-8555, or use our response form to email us.