"The Clark Hall Painting Studios (Are Closed)," 2002, by Shamek-Imin Rachmann Weddle ’01G, oil, 20' x 16'
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“The
Clark Hall Painting Studios (Are Closed)” is the title of this
painting by Shamek-Imin Rachmann Weddle, whose heroes include the painters
John Singer Sargent, Henry Ossawa Tanner, Robert Henri, Frida Kahlo
and Adolphe William Bouguereau. A 1997 graduate of Virginia State University,
he came to UMass Amherst for an M.Ed in art teaching and an M.F.A. in
painting. He worked in Clark Hall every day. "I can almost see the people
and their work," he says. "Some of the work is still here." "I aim to
take a direct approach to my figurative and landscape works by working
in front of my subject matter until thepainting
is done, when the light changes or until the time is up." He thinks
of the technique as being like "an emotional, clumsy, choosy, slower
camera." WeddleÕs work has been displayed in New York, as part of the
"Black Romantic" show at the Studio Museum in Harlem; in Japan; in Greenfield,
Massachusetts; Grand Rapids, Michigan; and on the UMass campus.
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Self-portrait, 2001, Shamek Weddle |
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"The Clark Hall Painting Sudios (Are Closed)" was commissioned and presented in UMass Magazine by BPG Associates and its client, The Barletta Company.
