Craig Hawkins Drawing Chosen for Texas National 2014

VALDOSTA — Craig Hawkins’s “Eve’s Curse,” a work of graphite on paper measuring 22 inches by 30 inches, was selected for the Texas National 2014, opening Saturday, April 12 in the Stephen F. Austin State University Cole Art Center, which is located in Nacogdoches, Texas. The exhibit will run through June 14. 

Only 6 percent of the artworks submitted were ultimately chosen for the 20^th annual juried competition and exhibition. Distinguished American artist Jerome Witkin had the arduous task of paring the nearly 1,100 submissions down to an impressive 69 works created by 47 artists from 20 states.  

Hawkins, an assistant professor in the Valdosta State University Department of Art since 2011, shared, “It’s always an honor for my work to be chosen for exhibition — especially on a national level. The juror, Jerome Witkin, is upheld as one of the finest realist painters working today, and having been selected by him for inclusion in this show is very exciting.”

“Eve’s Curse,” Hawkins continued, has also been accepted into an exhibition-in-print publication by Manifest Gallery, located in Cincinnati, Ohio. The 2015 International Drawing Annual received 1,508 submissions from 580 artists, ultimately selecting 116 works by 82 artists for the publication. It was conceived as an extension of the gallery drawing center’s strong commitment to promoting, featuring, and exploring drawing as a rich and culturally significant art form.

The ninth Manifest International Drawing Annual will be released during the winter of 2015. Hawkins is the only artist from Georgia appearing in the publication.

A VSU alumnus, Hawkins graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2001. He then returned to his alma mater a decade later, this time as an educator, after earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art. He primarily teaches foundation level and drawing courses, although he is also a noted painter.

In 2013, Hawkins was commissioned to paint a cloud ceiling mural at Nails by Chris on Gornto Road in Valdosta. He was commissioned to paint Christ in an olive grove at Northside Baptist Church the year prior. He has also worked as a scenic artist for Peach State Summer Theatre and for the School of Dance Arts Inc.’s annual holiday performance of “The Nutcracker.”  

Hawkins currently has a solo exhibit, “Notice Series by Craig Hawkins,” at Hospice of South Georgia. In September, his work will be featured in another exhibit, this time in the Atlanta-based Mason Murer Fine Art; he is one of the gallery’s represented artists.

“I will also be featured in the grand opening group show at the Anne Neilson Fine Art Gallery in Charlotte, N.C., opening May 1,” he added. “They sought me out for representation several months ago.”

Hawkins started the New Year with a solo exhibit at Indiana Wesleyan University’s Beard Arts Center in Marion, Ind.

Hawkins will participate in a group show, “Word + Word,” at The 930 Art Center in Louisville, Ky., Aug. 29 through Oct. 12. Already this year he has showcased his art alongside other artists in two groups shows, “Selections from White Stone Gallery” in the Connie A. Eastburn Gallery at Cairn University in Langhorne, Penn., and “Nude Night Art Show” in the Princeton Warehouse District in Orlando, Fla.

“I collect moments of revelation and try to visually give them away as a drawing or a painting,” according to his most recent artist’s statement. “My work asks questions and plants seeds of beauty for illuminating thoughts and discussion that motivate the viewer to reassess things typically taken for granted.”

Craig Hawkins can be contacted at (229) 293-6239 or tchawkins@valdosta.edu for more information.

On the Web:

www.craighawkinsart.com

http://www.valdosta.edu/colleges/arts/art/

http://www.art.sfasu.edu/cole