April 2015

"Proud Rooster and Old Moody Shack,"  
1986; Acrylic; 24” x 36” 
by Don Wright (1928—2007)

While many established Louisiana artists are known for their interpretations of backwater bayous or the Vieux Carré, Don Wright seems never to have settled on a particular theme. He applied his unmistakable style to subjects ranging from swamps to nudes and courtyards to cabins. Wright said, “My intent is to fuse internal reality within the artist with outside stimuli, the product being the finished art object. I deliberately subordinate all questions of style, technique, subject, and medium to this simple credo.”

Wright was a native of Shreveport. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he joined an exploratory seismographic company that enabled him to travel widely, during which time his interest in art began to grow. At the age of twenty-four, Wright began attending art classes at Southeastern Louisiana University, then entered an MFA program at the Pratt Institute of New York with an emphasis in painting, drawing, and, what he would later call his favorite medium, sculpture.

Don Wright is a featured artist at Gilley’s Galley in Baton Rouge. His work is also in the collections of LSU, the Ziegler Museum in Jennings, Louisiana’s permanent state collection, and private collectors throughout the South. For more visit gilleysgallery.com.