The exhibition Living Color: Gary Hudson on the 1970s is on display at the Georgia Museum of Art through Jan. 8. Organized by Sarah Kate Gillespie, curator of American art, the exhibition consists of nine large-scale abstract paintings by the artist, including one in the museum’s collection.
Hudson received a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University in the 1960s and studied there with famed artist and teacher Hans Hofmann. In the late 1970s, Hudson created works of lyrical abstraction. In contrast to minimalism, the lyrical abstractionists took a looser, more painterly approach to abstract art. Hudson experimented with the importance of color and line in composition. Sometimes he soaked a cloth with paint, then pulled it across a canvas, allowing color to saturate the surface randomly.
“This exhibition offers us the opportunity to appreciate and examine a pivotal moment in Hudson’s career,” Gillespie said. “With these works, we can clearly see the legacy of both abstract expressionism and minimalism, but also how the artist took these movements and reshaped them in new ways in the 1970s.”
In 2002, Hudson moved to Madison and continued to produce abstract paintings, which he exhibited regularly. He died in 2009 and is survived by his widow, Christie Hudson, who still lives in Madison. His works are in public collections including the Whitney Museum of American Art and the San Diego Museum of Fine Arts as well as in many private collections.
Related events include a Teen Studio with local artist Kristen Bach on Nov. 3 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. (free but registration required via 706-542-8863 or callan@uga.edu) and a public tour on Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.
