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OTHER EXHIBITS

 

• KENTUCKY HORSE MUSEUM, LEXINGTON, KY

• MOUNTAIN OYSTER CLUB WESTERN ART SHOWS, TUCSON, AZ

• ONE MAN SHOW, TUBAC CENTER OF THE ARTS, TUBAC, AZ

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Green Valley News, Green Valley, Arizona

Artist Bobb Vann has never strayed from his commitment to paint what he calls "the black experience."  "As an artist, mine is to leave a truer image than what was left before — of our black people," Vann says.

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More than two dozen pieces of Vann's artwork will be on display at the Tubac Center of the Arts beginning Sept. 25, 2015 when TCA opens its doors to feature, "The Art of Bobb Vann," a solo art exhibit running through Nov. 15, 2015.

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Bobb Vann's versatility and artistic skills include illustration and design as well as painting and drawing, talents he used early on in his career illustrating children's books and working as a commercial artist.

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Through the years, Vann became intrigued with history and the role African Americans played in the settling the American West.  His interest in Buffalo Soldiers began after seeing the 1960 film “Sergeant Rutledge," directed by John Ford.  The film tells the story of a Buffalo Soldier in the 9th U.S. Cavalry and the prejudice he encounters when accused of a crime he didn't commit.

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Buffalo Soldiers, a nickname given to the African-American military men by Native Americans in the mid-1800s, peaked Vann's curiosity and he began researching the historic roles black Americans played in the early days of the country's history.

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Women soldiers have also been a subject in Vann's work.  One of his recent paintings depicts two Native American female trackers in the early West.

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"I spent some time reading about the Apache Nation and discovered that women were often warriors and sent out on the trail," Vann says. “These Apache women were fighting with the men and their story needs to be shared."

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Another work in the show is a painting titled, "The Americans," depicting Quanah Parker, a Comanche/English-American from the Comanche band Quahadi or "antelope-eaters;" Buffalo Bill, an American scout and showman; and Deadwood Dick, a fictional character who appears in paperback novels published in the late 1800s.

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"I wanted to illustrate the kind of characters that helped shape our history," Vann says.  "They were all different but still had an impact on history, even though tales have made them larger than life."  Another painting titled "Street Angel" illustrates a homeless man Vann observed outside a bank in Philadelphia.

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"If you look closely, you'll see his reflection in the window of the bank," Vann notes.  "I see that reflection as his angel watching over him in his plight.  He seemed at home on the streets, as if someone was making sure he was safe."

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Vann says many of his paintings focus on real life.  "I paint what I see and sometimes simple things can be the most fascinating to me," Vann says.  "I want to be honest in my work and I want to paint images that are historically factual and represent life as it was and still is."

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Vann's art is displayed throughout the country, with permanent exhibits in the Arizona State Capitol, Fort Huachuca Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Free Library of Philadelphia, Booth Western Art Museum in Cartersville, Ga., the Federal Reserve Bank and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. He has also exhibited pieces in two of the Mountain Oyster Club’s Western Art Shows in Tucson.  In 1990, he founded Vanngo Graphics as a way of providing a positive vision of black images through art.  Vann and his wife Pat have lived in Tubac for 20 years.

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- Regina Ford, Reporter, Green Valley News