Art can challenge us. It can teach us. It can provoke us. It can also soothe us among its many powers. This week’s artwork shared by the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation in our partnership aims to do just that. The Dusti Bongé Art Foundation is located in Biloxi, Mississippi, 100 miles west of New Orleans along the Gulf of Mexico. That region remains in the headlines as it was struck by another powerful hurricane. Ida, this summer.
The mission of the Dusti Bongé Art Foundation is to promote the artistic legacy of Dusti Bongé, Mississippi’s first Abstract Expressionist painter, through exhibition, conservation, scholarship, and education. As always, analysis of this week’s artwork comes from Dusti Bongé Art Foundation Executive Director Ligia M. Römer.
Dusti Bongé, Untitled (Blue and Orange with Fine Black Lines), 1991, watercolor on joss paper, 5” x 5 ½”
The Gulf Coast continues recovering from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ida which made landfall in Louisiana and flooded most of the Mississippi coast. As fate would have it, Ida struck us on the 16th anniversary of Katrina.
In the wake of the storm, we are all working hard to get back on track again. As such, today, we will simply share with you an image of a lovely composition with soft colors and flowing lines, which somehow are reminiscent of water (yes, we’ve all had water on our minds). This work, dated and initialed by Dusti is one of the very last works she ever created.
Our hearts go out to all our friends in Louisiana. We wish you all much strength and courage in tackling the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
By Chadd Scott
What do you think?