VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

Inman Gallery presents the exhibition Heyd Fontenot:  It's A Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude, Nude World.  Opening reception for the artist from 6 - 8 pm, Friday, February 25. On view through April 2.

Heyd’s delicate, compelling portrait drawings are rendered in his own inimitable style, with oversized heads that dwarf delicate, smaller bodies and make you forget the subject is sans clothes. Known for painting his pals, this time around he takes on the Houston art world, capturing likenesses from artist Katrina Moorhead to his dealers Kerry Inman and Patrick Reynolds.

In his long and vigorous career, Heyd Fontenot's creative vision has found expression in many different artistic roles including designer, art director, producer, filmmaker and painter. Among his many clients are theater companies, retail businesses and media production companies.

In the 1990s, Fontenot produced a significant body of work as an experimental filmmaker. This period was crucial to his growth as an artist and continues to inform his work as a painter. Fontenot comments, "Filmmaking helped me craft a vocabulary that I continue to draw upon in painting, allowing a particular sensibility for assembling images and creating mise-en-scene"

Whatever medium he chooses, Fontenot usually revisits the themes of sexuality and morality producing joyful and playful works that nonetheless subtly undermine dominant cultural perceptions. In his own words, "If there is a radical nature to sexuality, it lies not in its ability to titillate, but rather in its inherent powers of spiritual transformation."

Heyd Fontenot was born in 1964 in Lake Charles, Louisiana. He currently lives and works in Austin, Texas.

Pictured:  Heyd Fontenot, Brent (Houston) With His Mouth Open, 2010, pencil and ink on paper, 12 1/4 x 9 inches.