Livin' In Lousiana

Garde Rail Gallery presents "Livin' In Louisiana", featuring the work of Louisiana artists Reginald Mitchell, "Big" Al Taplet, "Artist Chuckie" Williams, and Carol Myers.

As part of our five-week cross country trek last August, we spent some time in New Orleans and Shreveport, where we met with three very different and wonderful folk artists.

Reginald Mitchell is a 40 year old native of New Orleans. Painfully slight and frail, and with a speech impediment that causes him to stammer, Reginald grew up in the harshness of the projects, subject to regular teasing, taunting, and frequent run-ins with the local thugs. "I'm glad I'm out of there." In the early 1990's, he began to find solace in picture books and soon began to draw and paint scenes of New Orleans, interiors of grand southern mansions, and exotic locations, all pulled from picture books and energized by Reggie's vivid colours and unique perception. When we met him he had broken his foot. "These guys were trying to grab this ladies purse. I was running to the telephone to call the police, to get her help, but I tripped up on the stairs". Reggie's sweetness and innocence shows though his works on paper and canvas.

Home to fortunetellers and portrait painters, New Orleans' Jackson Square is frequented daily by visitors to the Garden City, and is also where "Big" Al Taplet has been shining shoes for years. "Big" Al (he stands at about 5 foot 2) began to paint colourful sayings ("Trust In God Like You Trust In Your Shoes") on slate and later on tin to attract passersby. "People began to stop by just to buy my signs and not even get a shoe shine". His simple works in bright acrylics also include portraits of his 3-legged dog ("Got run over by one of them horse-drawn carts") and many shoes.

Born in 1957, "Artist Chuckie" Williams lives at home with his mother in Shreveport. The "ghost talent" (as he sometimes calls himself) has been painting and drawing since childhood, his subjects his pop culture icons. "Janet and Michael (Jackson), they're my favorites. I love Bel Biv Devoe and Tracy Spencer too. And Oprah and Michael Jordan." His works are often two-sided, and augmented with glitter and bold colors. "Artist Chuckie" also "visits" places through the maps that he often recreates. "See, I been to the Northwest, Seattle's up by Canada" he points out in a depiction of the West Coast that is skewed and out of proportion. "I've been to Syria and Jordan and Europe, too."