Charles Blank (b. Hammond, Louisiana, 1948) has been working as a contemporary artist for over 50 years. He trained at Louisiana State University very early in his career. His dream-like paintings of disquieting figures and pictorial drama labeled him as one of the few “Visionary Imagist” of the time. His lure to mysticism and iconic distortion gradually brought him closer to abstraction. Around 2010, after his mother's passing, his work became a progression between the ox field behind his house and pure abstraction. With the incorporation of his expressionist interpretations and studies, he layers large amounts of paint and has created eye-opening landscapes and encapsulating movement over the last decade. Under the right conditions, his paintings are a strong representation of who he is in the moment of creation, making each piece extremely special, rare, and unpredictable. He came to fame in the 1980s, and in 1994, Blank stepped back from the art world but has continued to evolve within his paintings ever since. His work is not just a product, but an expression of himself, and the mystery of his work becomes part of the viewing experience.
“In the realm of enigma, Charles Blank is the extreme…Blank seems to work through his own psyche, the society outside having only tangential significance. In his best work, there is a kind of possessed anxiety, as though we are witnessing the artist’s inner turmoil rendered to us as candidly as possible. This is some of the most honest painting I’ve seen, and in certain cases, some of the most disturbing.” - Terrington Calas ( The New Orleans Art Review, 1991).
Charles is part of a permanent collection in the New Orleans Museum of Art and the Huntsville Museum of Art.
Awards:
1990-91 Visual Arts Fellowship, Louisiana Division of the Arts
Selected for Biennial De Arte, Medellin, Colombia
Education:
B.A. Southeastern Louisiana University 1975
M.F.A. Louisiana State University 1979
SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS:
1987 Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond.
1986 Galerie Simmone Stern, New Orleans.
1983 Galerie Jules LaForgue, New Orleans.
1982 Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond.
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
2001 One Person, Brunner Gallery, Covington.
1997 One Person, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
1991 Visionary Imagists, Florida Gulf Coast Art Center, Belleair.
1991 Visionary Imagists, University of Georgia Art Museum, Athens
1990 Visionary Imagists, Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans.
1990 Visionary Imagists, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
1989 Group Show, Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans.
1989 Portraits of Women, Gasperi Gallery, New Orleans.
1987 Chicago Art Expo, Arthur Roger Gallery, New Orleans.
1987 Fantasy and Mischief, Galerie Simmone Stern, New Orleans.
1987 Arthur Roger Gallery, at the Chicago Art Expo, Chicago.
1986 One Man Show, Valerie Simmone Stern, New Orleans.
1986 Erotica, Mario Villa Gallery, New Orleans.
1985 Galerie Simmone Stern, New Orleans.
1984 Louisiana Twelve, Masur Museum, Monroe.
1984 Tampering with Utopia, New Orleans Academy of Fine Arts, New Orleans.
1983 Four from New Orleans, Elmhurst Park Gallery, Lafayette.
1983 Images of Kathy B., Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
1983 Tilden-Foley Gallery, New Orleans.
1982 Brother Michael- “My Cousin the Saint”, Galerie Jules LaForgue, New Orleans.
1981 Bienal De Arte, Medellin, Colombia.
1981 Visions, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
1980 Louisiana Major Works, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Shreveport, Baton Rouge, Lafayette, Houston.
1980 One Person, Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond.
1980 Louisiana Major Works, Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans.
1980 Artists Triennial, New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans.
1979 One Person, St. Tammany Art Association, Covington.
1979 14th Annual Delta Regional, Covington.
1977 12th Annual Delta Regional, Covington.
1976 11th Annual Delta Regional, Covington.