Deborah Colton Gallery

Angelbert Metoyer, “Babies: Walk on Water, Present, Future and Time Travel”

November 17, 2012 – January 19, 2013

Public Opening Reception: Saturday, November 17, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Deborah Colton Gallery is pleased to present Babies: Walk on Water, Present, Future and Time Travel, an exhibition by Angelbert Metoyer.

Angelbert Metoyer is one of the most dynamic artistic creators of our time.  Launching his artistic career when he was still in high school in 1994, Metoyer was given two rooms in the Project Row Houses: a community arts center based in Houston. In 1995, he was included in exhibitions concurrently at Project Row Houses and Contemporary Arts Museum Houston and then moved to Atlanta to study at what is now the Savannah College of Art and Design. Through this time, Metoyer began thinking about objects as the representation of moments and drawn images as the formalization of memories. This influenced Metoyer’s later artwork that explored his own family history within the context of the narrative of this country and considered the cultural complexity of America’s past. Metoyer’s more recent work investigates the physics and mathematics of the universe, turning attention beyond ideas of self-identity and personal experience to notions of universal truths, metaphysics and questions about the human soul. The scope of his wide-reaching exhibition history attests to the fact that his works expresses universal ideas and speaks across boundaries, beyond words, to compellingly address a diverse audience.

Angelbert Metoyer has acquired a devoted following of collectors in Texas, nationally and abroad. His artwork is included in many museum collections including the African American Museum in Dallas, the Museum of Fine Arts: Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts, Leipzig (Germany) and the Williamsburg Museum of 21st Century Art in Brooklyn, among others. Metoyer was first shown at Deborah Colton Gallery in Qatar Narratives: A Country Expressed By Its Own Voices (2008). In this exhibition, Metoyer was selected as the only American artist, where his work reflected on the art of the nine prominent Qatari artists also included and revealed Metoyer’s mystical connections to the Middle East. Since then he has consistently shown his breathtaking work worldwide, exhibiting in various cities in the United States, as well as internationally in Italy, Germany, Peru, the United Kingdom, France, China, Cuba and the United Arab Emirates.

Babies: Walk on Water: Present, Future and Time Travel is the visual expression of the notion that inherent in new life is untouched wisdom. This intelligent intuition is a divine gift that is imparted upon us through the birth and existence of a pure being – the baby. Present from the first moments of consciousness in the womb, this universal knowledge lies latent in the physicality of a fragile new being, protected and preserved as the baby is unable to speak a worldly language. As one ages, this untouched wisdom is replaced with the knowledge of experience and its external manifestation—communication. Gradually, the pursuit of knowledge and the experience of chronological time obscures this original unadulterated vision, however one can forever find this eternal link in life anew, through the baby’s presence of goodness, innocence and unconditional love. In doing so, this can restore the memory of the infinite wisdom of the pure being.

Deborah Colton Gallery is founded on being an innovative showcase for ongoing presentation and promotion of strong historical and visionary contemporary artists worldwide, whose diverse practices include painting, works on paper, sculpture, video, photography, performance, conceptual future media and public space installations. The gallery aspires to provide a forum through connecting Texas, national and international artists to make positive change