Contact:
Dan Carpenter
(325) 673-4587
Marketing@thegracemuseum.org

Grace to open exhibit of David Bates May 12

Abilene, TX (May 1, 2007) - David Bates has established a national reputation as an artist whose paintings convey both visual sophistication and emotional power. No other contemporary Texas artist has achieved as much critical acclaim and market success in recent years - Bates has been labeled one of painting's finest practitioners.

On May 12, The Grace Museum will open an exhibit of Bates' work titled David Bates: Paintings from Texas Collections in the Museum's Main Gallery. The artist worked with The Grace to organize this exhibition of twenty major works drawn from little-seen private collections, recent gallery works, and museum collections, including that of The Grace.

Painting from memory, Bates recalls the inhabitants, vistas and wildlife of Texas and the South in landscapes, figure studies and still lifes.

Critic Lilly Wei has described Bates' works as " ... meditative and restless, naïve and sophisticated, suave and awkward, bad and beautiful, pictorial and sculptural, abstract and representational. Color, line, shape, foreground and background merge on the surface to create a vigorous tapestry."

Bates believes the intricacy of his painting "makes it more interesting and richer for both of us" (painter and the viewer). "It's that rawness that I need to have. I need to balance the very beautiful, the formal, and the contemplative with that quirky, southern thing."

David Bates was born in Dallas where he presently lives and works. His paintings, works on paper, and sculptures are represented in numerous private and museum collections, including The Whitney Museum of American Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Carnegie Museum, The Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, The Dallas Museum of Fine Arts and both the Smithsonian's American Art Museum and Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

A special members' and guests-only opening reception is set for Friday, May 11 from 6-8 p.m.

David Bates: Paintings From Texas Collections will be on display in The Grace's Main Gallery through August 25. The exhibit has been made possible by the generous support of Sindy and David Durham.

The Grace Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Thursday. Admission is free Thursday evening after 5 p.m.

For more information, call 325-673-4587.

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The Grace Museum 's exhibitions and educational programs are supported in part by grants from the Texas Commission on the Arts, the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council, the City of Abilene , Taylor County , and the Downtown Revitalization Program of the Tax Increment Finance District.

The Grace Museum is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Built in 1909, The Hotel Grace served as a rest stop for railway travelers. The mission-style building was renovated and re-opened in 1992 as The Grace Cultural Center. The Grace Museum , a non-profit organization, now serves as a home to a Children's Museum, History Museum , and Art Museum. At 55,000 sq. ft., The Grace Museum is the 10th largest general museum in Texas . The Grace Museum is the cornerstone of cultural arts and education in West Texas.