By Barbara Johnson Ross, Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art

The Ohr-O’Keefe Museum of Art announces two fun, informative and visually exciting exhibitions. The long-awaited African Diva Project is open through March 7 and Qarqish + Welch: Art as Form . . . Art as Function is open through March 14.

Sarah Qarqish + Morgan Welch: Art as Form . . . Art as Function was inspired by Qarqish being of Middle Eastern and American descent.  She describes her process as “finding a balance between line works to make a beautiful composition, symbolic of the two cultures finding common ground.” A 27-foot stencil wall installation and other works inspired by the wall fill the gallery and exemplify the concept of finding balance and harmony. Together with its accompanying lighting effects, the installation surrounds the viewer with not only a feeling of the intensity and chaos of the artist’s journey, but also the harmony that was found at the end of the path. Visitors describe the feeling of the installation as being transported to a peaceful, tranquil state.

Sarah Qarqish, Finding Balance, 2012, laser-cut bamboo stencil wall, 72” x 324”Foreground: Sarah Qarqish and Morgan Welch, Shape Tables, inspired by the bamboo wall installation

Morgan Welch and Sarah Qarqish (pictured with Finding Balance) formed the HannaBerry Workshop, Fine Art and Furniture in Jackson, Mississippi.

The African Diva Project began with Margaret Rose Vendryes’ first “African Diva” painting that was inspired by Donna Summer’s Four Seasons of Love album.  On the reverse side of the album cover, Summer posed as Marilyn Monroe; in Vendryes’ version, Summer wears a West African Baule mask.  In the following years, Vendryes completed “33⅓” square canvases as “Side A” of The African Diva Project, with each diva wearing a paper mask painted by the artist.  Vendryes was motivated by the fact that African masks were made by and for African males.  The reality that so many African masks depict female ancestors and deities inspired Vendryes to circumvent tradition and match gifted African American female soloists with significant African masks.  The masks chosen for the soloists were selected for their character and/or aesthetic compatibility to the singers’ commercial images. Visitors can try to identify the “masked” female singers and listen to the accompanying music, one song by each soloist.  The exhibition includes three paintings from “Side B,” currently in progress, in which the divas wear authentic African masks.

A selection of “African Divas” in the gallery includes Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, and Joan Armatrading.

Artist Margaret Rose Vendryes poses before Donnalyn Summeroe, the painting that inspired the project.

The opening reception for the new exhibitions was held on January 16, 2015.  Other installations were also open to the public:  George E. Ohr:  Prized, Honored & Cherished in a pod on the John S. and James L. Knight Pavilion; The Art of Toys; Vintage Collections; and George E. Ohr: Selections from Gulf Coast Collections.  Glimpses of Coastal history were seen in My House: The Pleasant Reed Story, and The Native Guard:  A Photographic History of Ship Island’s African American Regiment.

On January 17, a presentation by Margaret Rose Vendryes explained the origin of the African Diva Project with a step-by-step explanation of her artistic processes.