OCEAN SPRINGS, Miss. (WLOX) – The Walter Anderson Museum of Art welcomes a new exhibit featuring a late, local artist’s work, combining southern culture with abstract expressions.
Biloxi native Dusti Bongé is known for capturing southern culture within her paintings. She’s known for her unique style involving cubism, surrealism, and abstract expressionism in her work.
Now on display at the Walter Anderson Museum of Art, Chief Curator Mattie Codling says South Mississippians now have a chance to interpret their own view of these abstract works.
Codling says, “I think a lot of people are thrown off a bit by Bongé’s abstract expressionist works, but really, in delving into her work, it is reflective of the Gulf Coast. There are many works in this exhibition that are pulling inspiration or even this emotive feeling from the Gulf Coast, and that’s what’s reflected in her paintings.”
Bongé and Walter Anderson actually have ties to one another, as Anderson introduced Dusti to her future husband, Archie Bongé.
Codling says, “Anderson and Bongé had a really close working relationship. Walter Anderson was actually the best man in Dusti Bongé and Archie’s wedding. So, they had a close working relationship as two artists who had been classically trained outside of the Gulf Coast and then chose to make the Gulf their home.”
Codling adds that those who are familiar with local features of the Gulf Coast, like our rich shrimping industry and coast landmarks, might find these pieces of art stand out to museum goers.
Codling says, “So, there’s images of sailboats, shrimp boats, oyster piles. A lot of the architectural features of the Gulf Coast that I think a lot of people will be familiar with. If anybody recognizes or remembers the old, wooden lighthouse that was in Biloxi, that’s featured in the exhibition as well as the above-ground cemeteries. I think the folks are really going to enjoy coming out and seeing a different perspective on the Gulf Coast.”
The artwork is from both public and private collections from Mississippi, along with Louisiana and Alabama.
You can catch the exhibit from now through November 30th.
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