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This
article was in the April 2009 edition of Point of View POV®
magazine.
Reprinted
here with permission.
Storyteller
by Emmalee Antill
If you’re looking to escape for just a few hours, take a
scenic drive on Highway 1 to the small town of Donaldsonville to view
the work of an unforgettable artist. In the historic district lies the
studio of Alvin Batiste, whose primitive art paintings allow onlookers
to step into another time and place.
Batiste has been creating art since he was a child. His mother, Lillian
Little Batiste, encouraged him to expand his craft and to always create
his own unique art. While her encouragement helped Batiste make art, it
wasn’t until he saw a painting program on television that
Batiste began to experiment with paint. It was with paint that Batiste
began to make his career as an artist.
Sandra Imbraguglio ran a small store where Batiste bought many painting
supplies. She eventually asked Batiste what he was doing with the
supplies; he explained and she then offered to display and sell his
works in her store. Batiste sold his first painting for $10.
“That was it,” Batiste laughed. He knew that
painting was his career.
Batiste continued painting and his popularity quickly grew. He began
doing posters for local fairs, doing fund- raisers for
Children’s Miracle Network and began getting recognition in
many folk art books. Batiste’s most famous artwork became
famous by chance. Actor and musician Billy Bob Thornton was filming the
movie “The Badge”
in Donaldsonville. He was on a break and walked through historic
downtown Donaldsonville where he came across Rossie’s Frames
and Things where Batiste’s artwork was hanging. Thornton
liked the works so much he commissioned Batiste to do his portrait.
Thornton then used the painting as the cover for his debut album
“Private Radio”. It’s no surprise that
Batiste’s paintings were able to pull the actor from the
streets. His works have a life and movement that everyone stops to see.
Each Batiste artwork is unique. The subject matter ranges from biblical
scenes, plantation life, or portraits. Each painting has vibrant
colors, yet it is the movement in each piece that really takes the
viewer away. In one painting of a gospel choir, one can almost hear the
clapping and the “Hallelujahs”. The colors and the
shadows seem to make each piece come alive. In another
painting of a one-room schoolhouse, the viewer can practically hear the
shuffle of desks and the smell of chalk.
Batiste paints the vibrant and lifelike pieces of bygone days while
calmly and peacefully sitting in the front window of his gallery at
Rossie’s Frames and Things. Everyone who passes by stops,
waves and enjoys escaping through his art into another time and another
place. pov
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The
Primitive Art of African American Artist, Alvin Batiste
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