Randell Henry
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ARTIST STATEMENT
Making works for this exhibition allowed me to explore the collage medium through improvisation with the use of paper, fabric, paint, pens, paint markers and other materials associated with collage. In making collages, I first get something going by arranging pieces of paper and fabric on the surface while thing about the overall composition. I want to know if this works with that or if this color or texture needed here or should it be placed here. I am thinking this wat throughout the making of each work. It is those surprises that I like, when it works or when I make it work. As an artist who has spent forty years under the influences of modern art and modern artist and who has seen art from cultures across the world, I believe that this gives me confidence that that I can continue being creative and inventive through the joy of making works of art.
Like Pepper #30, Edward Weston spent many hours in the darkroom manipulating the darks and lights, for onlookers to see what they will see, I spend hours working with shapes, colors and lines to depict abstract imagery for onlookers to see what they will see over and over again in different ways.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in New Orleans, Henry has been a major force in the Baton Rouge art scene for more than 40 years as an artist, teacher, and mentor. He has an undergraduate degree from Southern University, where he now teaches and a master’s from LSU. Known for his bold use of lines, shapes, and color in his paintings and mixed-media collages, Henry, influenced early on by Modern Art, has participated in exhibitions at galleries and museums across the USA. In 1991, the New Orleans Museum of Art showed his large paintings in a major exhibition that included an article in Arts Quarterly Magazine. Henry was singled out by lead New York Times art critic Roberta Smith for his work “Rhythm Nation (Homage to Willem de Kooning)” in the New York City exhibition, 60 Americans in 2015. In 2017, he had a one-person exhibition at the Makeshift Museum in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles. In 2018, the African American Museum in Dallas, Texas, held a 30-year retrospective of his paintings and collages. Paintings and collages by Henry were featured in the one-person exhibition, Soulful Journey, at the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum in 2020. His works have been shown at the National Museum of Ghana in Accra, the UST Art Gallery in Kumasi, and at the University of Liberia.
This exhibition is presented alongside the latest works from David Scott Smith and John Isiah Walton. All works from these artists are on view, free of charge, during regular gallery hours (12 - 6 p.m., Tue - Sun) from May 29 - Jun 24, 2026.