Bringing the Art to You Week #42 Installation Photos of Kinship Dusti Bongé and Betty Parsons , 2022, Photo courtesy Hollis Taggart We are back from New York where we attended the opening of the excellent exhibit Kinship: Dusti Bongé and Betty Parsons at Hollis Taggart . Herewith a few great installation views of various pairings of Dusti Bongé works and Betty Parsons works. The team at Hollis Taggart did an amazing job highlighting their uniqueness, as well as hinting at both the similarities and differences in their work. These are just a few of the 50 works by both artists on view in the 1st and 2nd floor galleries . Although each artist had a different approach and style, they both relied on certain key elements, such as a rich and varied use of color, and a distinct determination not to try to emulate any other artists. They also both exhibit a genuine freedom of expression, a sense of being guided by something inward or spiritual. The first photo features two paintings by Dusti Bongé flanking an abstract painted wood sculpture by Betty Parsons. The paintings are Magic Promised (No. 9-12), 1955 on the left and Whirlpool, 1956 on the right, and the sculpture is Tug Boat Light House , 1970. Whirlpool was definitely shown at the Betty Parsons Gallery in Dusti ’ s debut solo show there in 1956, and it is highly likely that Magic Promised was there as well. The second photo shows Dusti’s Small World on Top of Small World , 1957-58 and Betty’s Untitled , c. 1952. Clearly two strong and very distinct abstract expressionist works. Finally, the third photo shows several of Betty’s smaller works on paper above a vitrine displaying various archival materials. It features exhibition announcements of Dusti exhibits at the Betty Parsons Gallery and several photos of the two friends together in Biloxi and traveling in Mexico. Several Betty Parsons works were actually in Dusti Bongé's collection, as the artists exchanged and gifted one another their art over the years. At one time Dusti found a piece of wood on the beach in Biloxi, mailed it to Betty, who then proceeded to use it in one of her wooden sculptures, which she promised to give to Dusti. Such is a true kinship! Kinship: Dusti Bongé and Betty Parsons at Hollis Taggart Ocober 13, 2022 - November 12, 2022 RECENT PRESS: 10.10.22 Forbes New York’s Top October Art Exhbitions Have A Southern Flavor https://www.forbes.com/sites/ chaddscott/2022/10/10/new- yorks-top-october-art- exhibitions-have-a-southern- flavor/ 10.5.22 Garden & Gun Mississippi’s Modernist Painter Who Thought New York Had Nothing on Biloxi https://gardenandgun.com/articles/dusti-bonge/ Have you seen this work? Do you or someone you know have this work in their collection? If so, we would love to hear from you. We are continually working to maintain as complete a record as possible, and to determine the location of all of Dusti Bongé's work. If you have information on this, or other works, you can contact us at
[email protected] We appreciate receiving any referrals to the existence and whereabouts of artworks by Dusti Bongé. Thank you. You can now view some of these works on our website: https://www.dustibonge.org/missing-works.html Available in our store: The definitive volume on artist Dusti Bongé, by J. Richard Gruber Dusti Bongé, Art and Life: Biloxi, New Orleans, New York Hard bound, 12” x 9”, 350 pages, over 500 color and b&w illustrations Limited edition lithographs of two original Dusti Bongé drawings. Shrimp Boats & Factories, Back Bay Biloxi I and Shrimp Boats & Factories, Back Bay Biloxi II 12” x 16” drawing, 15” x 22” paper size https://www.dustibonge.org/store.html support us Our mission: to promote the artistic legacy of Dusti Bongé (1903-1993)
