Artist Name:
Benny Andrews
Nationality & Life Dates:
American, 1930 - 2006
Title:
Revival Meeting
Date:
1994
Medium:
Oil and collage on canvas
Dimensions:
50 x 72 inches
Credit Line:
Purchase with funds from Alfred Austell Thornton in memory of Leila Austell Thornton and Albert Edward Thornton, Sr., and Sarah Miller Venable and William Hoyt Venable
Accession Number:
1995.1
Copyright:
© The Benny Andrews Estate
Currently Not on View
Here Benny Andrews revisits his childhood memories of revival services held at the Plainview Baptist Church near Madison, Georgia. Encouraged by the congregation’s singing and coaxed by a persuasive minister, people on the “mourners’ benches” pray for forgiveness and salvation. With bold colors, dramatic lighting, and theatrical gestures, Andrews conveys the anguish of the mourners and the ecstasy of the saved. He hoped his work “transcends [his] particular experiences . . . to speak to larger audiences about the human condition.”