Details

Title

Revival Meeting

Artist/Maker

Benny Andrews (American, 1930–2006)

Date

1994

Medium

Oil and collage on canvas

Dimensions

50 x 72 inches

Credit

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 #

1995.1

Location

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.”

Image Copyright

© Estate of Benny Andrews / VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

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