The College of Southern Nevada, School of Arts & Letters, and Department of Fine Arts will host a traveling exhibition of mixed media paintings by Nevada based artist and College of Southern Nevada adjunct faculty, Stanley Webb. Stanely Webb: A Syncretic Reality will open on Saturday, June 1, 2024, and will travel throughout the Las Vegas valley with showings on the CSN Henderson campus (June 1, 2024 – September 30, 2024), the Charleston campus (October 1, 2024 – January 31, 2025), and the North Las Vegas campus (February 1, 2025 – May 31, 2025). The CSN Student Union Art Galleries are free, family friendly, and open to the public.
Stanley Webb was born in Detroit, MI. Education, advancement, and family was the backbone of his life. At a young age Webb attended The Detroit Institute of Arts Children’s program, where he was exposed to many of the artists from the African Diaspora. Their way of handling materials and how they express themselves through these mediums has always interested him. In his own work, Webb takes what he has learned over the intervening years and incorporates it into his own artistic expression and vision.
Webb graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Michigan in 1984 and a Master of Fine Arts from Queens College in 1988 in Queens, NY. Webb became acutely aware of the lack of representation of people of color in the art world. Through his work he endeavored to use African American historical, literary, and visual references in his Major – sculpture, and drawing. His work was primarily figurative in the Western tradition. He learned the techniques of modeling and casting and drawing consistent with that tradition. Post-graduation he attended Queens College CUNY, where he was a sculpture major and after graduating pursued a variety of creative jobs. When he left New York City, Webb worked at Temple University as an adjunct lecturer in the English department while immersing his artistic roots within his teachings. This eventually led him, in 2013, to begin a deeper understanding of the transformative effects of the African diaspora in the west. Currently, Webb works at the College of Southern Nevada as an Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Art and with differently abled students at the Opportunity Village Fine and Performing Arts program.
Referring to his work, Webb states, “My Abstract work is an attempt to have two or more distinct mediums combine into one image. Initially, the viewer will see a painting but on further inspection the viewer will see a sculpted relief substructure that is sometimes distinct from the paint and has a relation to the whole. A process called syncretism drives my work. Syncretism is a process between different elements, the in-between condition of ‘being both’ without losing their individual distinction. This approach allows me to draw upon multiple sources and traditions; ancient, modern, jazz music and my experience as a person of color with multiethnic roots.”
This project is supported in part by the Nevada Arts Council and the National Endowment for the Arts.
The CSN Student Union Art Galleries are free, family friendly, and open to the public. Gallery hours vary by campus and semester. Please visit https://www.csn.edu/student-unions for current hours of operation.
For more information, please call (702) 651-4146
http://www.csn.edu/artgallery
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