Mary Lovelace O’Neal

On February 10, 2022, Mary Lovelace O’neal received the Mississippi Governor’s Award for excellence in visual art.[1] O’neal was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1942. She recalls growing up in an environment where her interest in the arts was nurtured by her father, Ariel Lovelace, Professor of Music at Tougaloo College.[2] At Tougaloo O’Neal began her education in the Department of Art, before transferring to Howard University where she completed her studies under the tutelage of eminent African American artists such as David Driskell and Lois Mailou Jones. Active during the civil rights and Black Arts Movements, she was an outspoken advocate for both Black Power and the rights of women artists.[3] While maintaining a highly successful career as a celebrated contemporary abstract painter, O’Neal has also been devoted to arts education, teaching at a range of institutions across the United States and internationally. She retired as professor emeritus from the University of California Berkley in 2006.

Chairs and Tables or Workshop in Painting was part of a painting workshop O’Neal held at Jackson State University in 1987. O’Neal describes the exercise she created using simple objects as subject matter that would inspire students to explore the surface of the canvas: “I put together a small still life of chairs and tables and talked about pushing the paint around in very traditional ways to come to image development. Often when I am in need of a starting point I use the still life or the figure to get paint moving around the surface, this way of working is something I learned from David Driskell when I was his student at Howard, almost forty years ago.”[4]

O’Neal has had international success for her work in mixed media,contemporary abstract painting, and printmaking. Her practice demonstrates how abstract works can explore personal narratives, as well as themes of social justice and contemporary debates. Jackson State University is fortunate to have O’Neal’s work in its permanent collection housed at Johnson Hall. Chairs and Tables or Workshop in Painting serves both as an example of her eye for abstraction and understanding of colour, and as evidence of her commitment to arts education.

Notes:

[1] See: Senator(s) Horhn, Frazier, Michel, Introduced Track Bill: Recognize Mary Lovelace O'Neal as the recipient of the 2022 Governor's Arts Award for Excellence in Visual Art: https://trackbill.com/bill/mississippi-senate-concurrent-resolution-538-recognize-mary-lovelace-oneal-as-the-recipient-of-the-2022-governors-arts-award-for-excellence-in-visual-art/2211115/

[2] Lealan Swanson and Karlos Taylor. “Vision 56: Masterworks from the Jackson State University Permanent Collection.” Exhibition Catalog. Jackson, MS: Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment of the Arts, and Jackson State University, 2003. 11-12.

Coincidentally, Ariel M. Lovelace conducted the musical performance at the dedication of Johnson Hall to Gov. Paul Johnson Sr. At this time Johnson Hall operated as JSU’s social sciences building – it became the Fine Art building with the arrival of the first Department of Art Chair, Lawrence A. Jones.

[3] See: Mary Lovelace O’Neal interviewed by Suzanne Jackson. The painters, who met in 1973, reflect on their experiences with student protests and the Black Panthers: https://bombmagazine.org/articles/mary-lovelace-oneal/

[4] Swanson and Taylor. “Vision 56: Masterworks from the Jackson State University Permanent Collection.” 11-12.

Further reading:

Coleman, Floyd. “Mary Lovelace O’Neal’s Poetic Vision.” Mary Lovelace O’Neal: Paintings & Works on Paper by Jackson State University Department of Art. Exhibition guide. Jackson, MS: Jackson State University.

Jackson State University Department of Art. Mary Lovelace O’Neal: Paintings & Works on Paper. April 9-27, 1987. Exhibition guide. Jackson, MS: Jackson State University.

Jackson State University Department of Art. “Mary Lovelace O’Neal: Visiting Artist.” Program guide. April 13-15, 1987. Jackson, MS: Jackson State University School of Liberal Arts.

Lewis, Samella. African American Art and Artists. Revised and expanded edition. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2003.

Rajaratnam, Sukanya. Mary Lovelace O’Neal: Chasing Down the Image: February 6–March 14, 2020. Exhibition Catalog. New York: Mnuchin Gallery. 2020.

Swanson, Lealan and Karlos Taylor. “Vision 56: Masterworks from the Jackson State University Permanent Collection.” Pamphlet. Jackson, MS: Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment of the Arts, and Jackson State University, 2003.

Citation: Myburgh, Brittany. “JSU Art Feature: Mary Lovelace O’Neal.” Journal of Art & Theatre, vol. 1, no.1 (2022): 6-8.

Prepared by Dr. Brittany Myburgh for the Journal of Art & Theatre with thanks to Mr. Jimmy Mumford and Mr. Charles Carraway for their help and recommendations. This section will be an ongoing feature, highlighting a new work of art from the permanent collection in every volume.