October 11, 2002
through
February 2, 2003

Capturing the Essence: Portraits by Ben Long

Acclaimed North Carolina artist Ben Long, who is perhaps best known for the frescoes he has created throughout the state, will be featured in the exhibition Capturing the Essence: Portraits by Ben Long. Opening October 11, 2002 at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC-Chapel Hill, this exhibition provides an opportunity to view fourteen portraits and figure studies by the Asheville-based artist who was raised in Statesville, North Carolina. On October 12, 2002, Long is scheduled to receive UNC-Chapel Hill's Distinguished Alumnus Award on University Day at 9:30 a.m. in Hill Hall Auditorium. University Day and the exhibition are both free and open to the public.

Long attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to study creative writing. To pursue his interests in the visual arts, he attended the Art Students' League in New York, where he studied with Robert Beverly Hale and Frank Mason. After serving in Vietnam as a Marine Infantry Officer, Long apprenticed with fresco artist Pietro Annigoni in Florence, Italy. While there, he learned the techniques of true fresco and taught himself how to paint in oil. He currently trains students in the classical tradition at his school, the Fine Arts League of Asheville.

For his frescoes and portraits Long studies the human figure with great care. He insists on working from life, never from a photograph. This requires long sittings for every drawing and painting. As Long himself explains, "To draw from life is an ever learning process; the more the artist seeks to deepen his understanding, the more he discovers himself. The more he reaches into the drawing, the more the line holds that energy into the fabric of time for others to feel."

Capturing the Essence highlights one of Long's most notable talents: his ability to capture the personality of his sitters. "While some artists only capture a likeness in their portraits, Long strives - and succeeds - at providing viewers with insights into the sitter's character," notes Ackland Curator Cathy Keller-Brown. "In his drawings, some of which are studies for frescoes, the figures seem to emerge from the paper as palpable living and breathing beings. In his portraits Long turns paint into flesh so that the two-dimensional canvas powerfully evokes the essence of the sitter."

The exhibition also serves as the second installment in Carolina Collectors, a series of exhibitions that showcase the artworks of collectors residing in North Carolina and alumni and associates of UNC-Chapel Hill living across the country. Three of the works on display are from the collection of Peace Sullivan ('69 AB) of New York City. Sullivan is an active member of the Ackland's National Advisory Board.