What does the silent film star Louise Brooks have in common with aviator Amelia Earhart, temperance pioneer Carrie Nation, singer Eva Jessye, or even murderess Kate Bender?
Each, it turns out, was born and raised in Kansas – and each is featured in an art exhibit at the local Smoky Hill Museum in Salina, Kansas. The exhibit, which runs through January 30, 2011, was the subject of a recent article in the Salina Journal.
“Remarkable Kansas Women” features six large-scale painting, ranging from 48 by 48 inches to 84 by 96 inches, depicting half-a-dozen historic figures including Brooks, Earhart, Nation, Jessye, Bender, Millvina Dean – the youngest passenger to sail on the ill-fated Titanic, and Teresa Cuevas – the leader of the first all-female Mariachi band.
The paintings are the work of Jennifer Randall, an artist who divides her time between her native California and a studio-residence in Hutchinson, Kansas. Born in 1963, Randall grew up in South Pasadena, where she began drawing and painting at an early age. She studied at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, and in Paris, and has traveled throughout the United States and Europe.
Louise Brooks (1906-1985) was born in Cherryvale, a small town in southeastern, Kansas. She grew up there and in nearby Independence, until her family relocated to Wichita while the future actress was not yet a teenager. Brooks left home at the age of 15 to join the Denishawn Dance Company, then the leading modern dance group in the United States.
In a statement to examiner.com, Randall noted, “I found the people I met in Kansas to be hardy and intelligent. As I researched the history of the area, I was attracted to the stories of women. Their determination, their strength, and their talents. Louise Brooks stood out not only because of her fame, but for her infamy.”
Randall adds, “She is so popular and her looks so unique - however, her intellect and lack of submissive behavior got her ousted from Hollywood. Later, she became reclusive, which is hard for someone so creative. Her life was complex. Hopefully, the painting reflects that in its imagery and collage style.”
The six works on display in “Remarkable Kansas Women” are part of an even larger, on-going series depicting singular women from around the world. Randall’s website states, “This series was inspired by my interest in the historical lives of women. The force and determination of each life through the most unusual of circumstances is fascinating and worth reconstructing.
Among Randall’s various works, the Louise Brooks painting has drawn a good deal of attention. It was depicted in an article in the local Hutchinson News in 2008, exhibited at the Gallery 7 in Hutchinson in 2008-2009, and is now once more on display at the Smoky Hill Museum in Salina. Brooks, it seems, is a magnet of meaning.
For more info: The Smoky Hill Museum website can be found at www.smokyhillmuseum.org/ The website for artist Jennifer Randall can be found at http://jenniferrandall.net/
Thomas Gladysz is a longtime fan of Louise Brooks, so much so that in 1995 he founded the Louise Brooks Society, an internet-based archive and international fan club devoted to the silent film star. Gladysz has contributed to books on the actress, organized exhibits, appeared on television, and introduced her films around the country. Recently, he edited and wrote the introduction to the “Louise Brooks edition” of Margarete Bohme’s The Diary of a Lost Girl. Gladysz will speak about his new book at the Village Voice Bookshop in Paris on January 13, 2011. This author talk will be followed by a screening of the film at the nearby Action Cinema.
Comments