Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Drawing of Petersburg, Virginia













































On numerous visits to Petersburg, Virginia, I was overwhelmed by the poverty and misery that dominates the city in a proportion higher than I've ever seen. This culminated in reporting on a house fire, caused by deprivation and utility company profits, which killed three children: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/feb2007/pete-f01.shtml

This is the first segment of a pastel drawing of the city. It follows the course of an abandoned railroad, which passes by the decayed and destroyed industrial base of Petersburg and then drops off at a bridge that is now just piers. The next segment will follow a road, showing the social conditions of the city and the interactions I had with some I talked to. The drawing was done with chalk pastels in about six days. It's 4 x 20 feet, on paper.


5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

The drawings are beautiful. They remind me of some of the old Regionalism art that was done during the depression. In someways you have to wonder why that style is becoming more prevalent.

10:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I really like the these paintings and the your photos on the site in general. They're painful and beautiful at the same time. These photos brings up questions and emotions that I don't know quite how to express. Perhaps it's because we've been ignoring them for such a long time.

I look forward to more of your postings.

1:38 PM  
Blogger Jess said...

These are nice, I'm curious to see which road you've chosen.

10:04 PM  
Blogger The Humanity Critic said...

I dated a woman in Petersburg(I live in Va Beach), and I just have to say that those drawings beautifully sum up the area to a tee. Peace.

3:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

When/where can folks check out your finished panorama of Petersburg? (Have you considered showing it at one of Petersburg's art galleries?)

12:55 PM  

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