Lu Ann Barrow (1934 - present)

Austin, Texas artist Lu Ann Barrow paints the joys and
journeys of life with a folkloric style of pointillism.  She celebrates
everyday life with a light-hearted attitude through her focus on themes
of rural Texas life, Biblical stories, and her travels to Egypt and
Turkey. 

Dana Friis-Hansen, Director of the Austin Museum of Art, wrote in the 2006 Lu Ann Barrow catalogue:
"Lu
Ann Barrow is a true Texas treasure, a gifted painter and keen observer
of not only local lifestyles, but of humanity around the globe. Barrow
has an uncanny sense for mixing the gravity of life's blessings with a
"lightness of being" that connects everyday pleasures with the great
secular and religious  lessons of life. Her painting style is
deceptively simple, yet each canvas rewards serious looking, both for
her deft use of color and pattern, as well as the way the content is
carried by evocative scenes. Barrow's compositions appear to be
embroidered as she renders every detail with precise dots and refined
strokes of paint. Her visual parables are full of intricate patterns and
lively colors that play off one another and invite the viewer to become
involved and narrate their own story of what is happening in the lives
of these painted characters".

Of her paintings, Barrow says:
They
reflect the bits and pieces, patterns and flow of my life and what I
observe of the people and situations around me. The results are often
allegorical and nostalgic. Many times they reveal things in the end that
I was not aware of when I first conceived the idea."

Lu Ann
Barrow was born in Rosenberg, Texas, in 1934, and studied with William
Lester and Dan Wingren while earning her BFA at the University of Texas,
Austin. She has regularly exhibited in Austin and Dallas since 1959,
and was recognized with a traveling retrospective exhibition and
catalogue in 2006. Her work was selected to represent the Texas Book
Festival in 1999 and the National Book Festival in 2001. Barrow has been
represented by Valley House Gallery since 1993 where she has had 5 solo
exhibitions.
 
This exhibition is presented by the Fort Worth
Community Arts Center and was organized in collaboration with Valley
House Gallery & Sculpture Garden.

About Valley House Gallery
& Sculpture Garden: Founded in 1954, Valley House Gallery &
Sculpture Garden is Texas' most enduring fine art gallery. The
Modernist-style gallery, along with the 4+ acre sculpture garden, is
located in its original North Dallas location. Valley House Gallery
represents established and emerging contemporary artists working in
traditional media, deals in important American and European art, and
specializes in reintroducing significant Early Texas art. In addition to
presenting exhibitions in the gallery and throughout the sculpture
garden, Valley House Gallery publishes scholarly catalogues,
participates in national art fairs, and assists museums in curating
exhibitions. In 1964, Valley House Gallery was the first gallery in
Texas invited to join the prestigious ADAA (Art Dealers Association of
America.) The gallery is also a founding member of both DADA (Dallas Art
Dealers Association) and CADD (Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas.)
Second generation owners Cheryl and Kevin Vogel invite visitors to enjoy
a unique art and garden  experience.


Sources:
Fort Worth Community Arts Center and Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden
http://www.fwcac.com/?exhibition_detail/1527

Born:  1934, Rosenberg, Texas


Education:

1956 BFA,  University of Texas, Austin, Texas (studied with William Lester and Dan Wingren)


Exhibitions:

1959 Prospects of 1959, Dallas Public Library, Dallas, Texas (Salesmen)
1959 30th Annual Dallas County Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, Texas (Joseph)
1960 31st Annual Dallas County Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, Texas (Palm Sunday)
1961 32nd Annual Dallas County Exhibition, Dallas Museum of Fine Art, Dallas, Texas
1962 National Exhibition of Small paintings, Albuquerque, New Mexico, (jurors:  James Forrest, Clinton Adams)
1963
Second Annual National Exhibition of Small Paintings, traveling
exhibition:  (jurors:  Doel Reed, Walter Kuhlman), Albuquerque, New
Mexico, (prize:  Paper Dolls)
1964 Texas Fine Arts Association, 53rd Spring Jury Exhibition, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas (prize:  Palm Sunday)
1964 Texas Fine Arts Association, Region One Citation Exhibition, Elisabeth Ney Museum, Austin, Texas, (prize:  Palm Sunday)
1964 Texas Fine Arts Association Annual State Citation Show, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas (prize: Palm Sunday)
1965 Fiesta, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas; yearly through 1980
1965 Texas Fine Arts Association, Citation Exhibition, Austin, Texas
1966 8th Annual 8 State Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, Oklahoma Art Center, Oklahoma (prize:  John the Baptist)
1969 Texas Fine Arts Association, Spring Jury Exhibition, Austin, Texas
1970 Texas Fine Arts Association, 59th Annual Exhibition, Austin, Texas, (prize:  Ice Follies)
1970 Texas Fine Arts Association, 9th Annual Fall Invitational, Laguna Gloria Museum, Austin, Texas
1971 Texas Fine Art Association, annual exhibition, Austin, Texas
1971 Sol del Rio, one person show, San Antonio, Texas
1974 Yule Exhibit, Fairmount Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1974 Texas Fine Arts Association, 63rd Annual Exhibition, Austin, Texas, (Holstein and Bois D'Arcs)
1975 Fairmount Gallery, two person show, Dallas, Texas
1975 Fairmount Gallery, group show, Dallas, Texas
1976 William Hoey, Lu Ann Barrow, and David Everett, three person show, Pecan Square Gallery, Austin, Texas
1980 Wagner Gallery, one person show, Austin, Texas
1985 Private one person exhibition, Austin, Texas
1988 Soul-Journers: Exhibition and Sale, Austin, Texas
1989 Private one person exhibition, Austin, Texas
1991 Arts and Religion Symposium Feature Artist, Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky
1991 Wunderlich Gallery, one person show, Austin Texas
1991 Third Annual Celebration of the Arts, St. John the Divine Art Show, The Episcopalian, Houston, Texas, (prize)
1992 Lu Ann Barrow:  A 25 Year Retrospective, Wunderlich Gallery, Austin, Texas
1992 Creative Spirit I, Invitational Art Exhibition, Concordia Lutheran College, Austin, Texas
1993 USArtists93, art fair, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1993 Lu Ann Barrow: Paintings, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1993 ARTexas, Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
1994 USArtists94, art fair, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1994 40th Anniversary Exhibition, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1994 The Art Show, Art Dealers Association of America, Seventh Regiment Armory,
New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1994 ARTexas, 500 Inc., Dallas Convention Center, Dallas, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
1995 USArtists95, art fair, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1995 Lu Ann Barrow: Paintings, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1995 Art of the Garden, group show, The Art Center, Waco, Texas
1995 The Art Show, Art Dealers Association of America, Seventh Regiment Armory,
New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1996 USArtists96, art fair, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1996 Glimpses of Eden, group show, Adair Margo Gallery, El Paso, Texas
1996 Art Miami, art fair, Miami Beach Convention Center, Miami, Florida (Valley House Gallery)
1997 USArtists97, art fair, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1997 Lu Ann Barrow: New Paintings, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1997 Texas Natural Wonders, group show, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1997 The Art Show, Art Dealers Association of America, Seventh Regiment Armory,
New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
1998 USArtists98, art fair, 33rd Street Armory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1998 The Figure: An Invitational Exhibition, group show, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
1999 Lu Ann Barrow: Recent Work, Valley House Gallery, one person show, Dallas, Texas
1999 USArtists99, art fair, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Valley House Gallery)
1999 Lu Ann Barrow Paints the Common Uncommonly, Broadway Baptist Church, one person show, Fort Worth, Texas
1999 The Art Show, Art Dealers Association of America, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2000 Dallas International Art & Antique Fair, The Dallas International Pavilion at Victory, Dallas, Texas
2000 The Art Show, Seventh Regiment Armory, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2002 McNay Art Fair, McNay Art Museum, San Antonio, Texas (Valley House Gallery)
2002 Art Atlanta, Art Fair, Atlanta, GA (Valley House Gallery)
2002 The Art Show, 7th Regiment Armory, New York, New York (Valley House Gallery)
2003 43rd Annual Invitational Exhibit, Longview Museum of Fine Arts, Longview, Texas
2004 50th Anniversary Exhibition, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2005 Valley House Exhibition, Masur Museum, Monroe, Louisiana
2005 Kenneth Threadgill Concert Series Artist Invitational Exhibition, Municipal Auditorium, Greenville, Texas
2006 Lu Ann Barrow's "Soul-Journers": Friends, Family, and the Fabric of Daily Life, Austin Museum of Art, Austin, Texas
2006 Friends for the Journey: The Paintings of Lu Ann Barrow, Longview Museum of Art, Longview, Texas
2006 Lu Ann Barrow Retrospective, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2007
now and then: contemporary and early texas artists, Gallery 2,
Department of Art and Design, Joann Cole Mitte Building, Texas State
University-San Marcos, San Marcos, Texas
2008 Texas Tour: 100 Years of Texas Landscape Painting, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas
2010 Park Cities Presbyterian Church Arts Festival 2010: Manger, Magi, and Majesty, Dallas, Texas
2011 Lu Ann Barrow: Journeys, Fort Worth Community Arts Center, Fort Worth, Texas


Literature:

Rual Askew, "Museum Annual Both On , Off Dead Center," The Dallas Morning News, May 29, 1960.

Dottie Fish, "Lu Ann Barrow:  Her Paintings are for Fun," The Austin Citizen, September 5, 1979.

Sue McBee, "Lu Ann Barrow Paints the Common Uncommonly," Austin Homes and Gardens, August 1980. pp. 68-70.

Carolyn Huffman, Life Between the Questions, Waco:  Word Books, 1985, illustrated the book.

Sampler, Laguna Gloria Art Museum Cookbook, Austin, 1985, cover design.

Howard Hovde, Into a Larger World, Laity Lodge, 1990, 9 paintings reproduced.

Robert Kysar, "And We Have Seen His Glory," The Lutheran, December 1990, 2 illustrations.

William Hendricks, "An Image of Jesus in Jeans", Art and Religion, 1991, pp. 15-19.

Creative Spirit I, exhibition catalogue, Concordia Lutheran College, Austin, Texas, 1992.

The ADAA Report, Newsletter of the Art Dealers Association of America, Fall 1994, p. 6 (illustration)

40th Anniversary Exhibition, exhibition catalog, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas.

Andrew J. Ligon III, "Exhibit offers views on Eden," El Paso Herald Post, October 25, 1996.

Texas
Book Festival, Laura Bush, Honorary Chairman, Austin, Texas, November 5
- 7, 1999, reproductions on invitations, posters and tee-shirts related
to the festival

"Valley House to exhibit 'visual parables' of Barrow," Plano Star Courier, November 1999, llustration.

"Joy
of Life:  Folk painter opening show at Valley House, " Richardson News,
Thursday, November 4, 1999, Lifestyles, Section B, p. 1, illustration.

"Art," The Dallas Morning News Guide, November 26, 1999, p. 68, show mention and illustration.

Glenda
Vosburgh, "Spending It:  Texas state of mind," Dallas Business Journal,
November 26 - December 2, 1999, p. 52, illustration.

"The Agenda," HomeLiving, December 1999, p. 27, show mention and illustration.

50th Anniversary Exhibition, exhibition catalogue, Valley House Gallery, Dallas, Texas, March 5 - 27, 2004, color illustration.

The
National Book Festival, Laura Bush, Honorary Chairman, Washington,
D.C.m Fall of 2001, reproductions on invitations, posters, tee-shirts,
and gift items related to the festival.

The Paintings of Lu Ann
Barrow, catalogue for exhibitions at the Austin Museum of Art, Longview
Museum of Fine Arts and Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden,
Dallas, Texas: Valley House Gallery Press, 2006, essay by James
Housefield.

Lloyd S. Rubin, "Lu Ann Barrow's "Soul-Journers"
Hosted by Austin Museum of Art," Art Knowledge News at
www.artknowledgenews.com, originally posted on August 17, 2006,
illustration.

Glenn Evans, "Art of observation: artist brings
work that 'expresses joy' to Longview museum," Longview News-Journal,
September 8, 2006.

Nikki Moore, "AC pick:  "Lu Ann Barrow's
'Soul-Journers':  Friends, Family, and the Fabric of Daily Life,""
Calendar, Community, Arts, The Austin Chronicle, October 6, 2006, page
86, illustration.

Forrest Preece, "Westside Stories:  Lu Ann Barrow," West Austin News, October 26, 2006, Volume 19 Issue 51, page 4.

Mark Norris, " Church Sponsors Spirtual and Spirited Art Ehibition," The Dallas Morning News, November 14, 2010.

Gaile Robinson, "In the Galleries," Fort Worth Star-Telegram, January 7, 2011,  8E, color illustration.


Selected Public Collections:

Exxon Corporation, Las Colinas, Texas
Pinehurst Surgical Clinic, Pinehurst, North Carolina
Ross Vick and Associates, Dallas, Texas
Texas Service Life Insurance, Austin, Texas
The Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
U.S. Trust, Dallas, Texas