Coral Springs Museum of Art is going to the dog - the Blue Dog.
Artist George Rodrigue and his glassy-eyed, fox-eared creation, Blue Dog, will be featured during the museum’s – what else? – Blue Dog Weekend. It kicks off with a Friday evening reception. Then on Saturday morning, Rodrigue will read from his children’s book, Why Is Blue Dog Blue?, followed by a lecture and painting demonstration that afternoon. Click here for exact times, reservation and ticket information, and more info.
We are well acquainted with Blue Dog in my family, as my brother lives in New Orleans – Rodrigue’s home turf, and a place where the dog is ubiquitous. Me, I have trouble seeing the art behind mass-producing the same image over and over, although Rodrigue told art critic Candice Russell recently that the Blue Dog “comments on society and how we live today through (the pictures’) titles.”
My mom, however, is a huge fan. So you probably will find me in line Saturday, hoping to get Rodrigue’s signature on a Blue Dog book. Honest, it’s for my mother.
While there, I plan to check out Ann Beebe’s “A Journey of Love,” photographs that will be shown along Blue Dog and works by two other artists as part of the museum’s animal subject-themed exhibit. Beebe, a Microsoft executive living in Seattle, found her life’s passion in raising service dogs for Canine Companions for Independence. Her portraits of her students include one of Piper – a Devonshire lab that ended up flunking out of the program. Piper now lives with museum Executive Director Barbara O’Keefe, along with Arwyn, another training drop-out.
O’Keefe said the exhibit, the last in a series until October, has been huge hit. “It’s all about animals and people are loving it,” she said.
Comments (2)
OMG! Blue Dog! I got the big Blue Dog coffee-table book about 12 years ago, when George Rodigue was not that well-known outside of Nola...There was something so haunting about Blue Dog...and after I bought the book and read the copy in the book, it haunted me even more....Thanks for telling us about this, Diane, I am going to try to get there...I would love to meet this George Rodigue...he looks like a rough-tough guy, but he is really a very evolved soul, a very special man and an unforgettable icon of a dog!
Posted by TJ | May 2, 2008 2:01 AM
Posted on May 2, 2008 02:01
Hey TJ -- do note that Rodrigue has said he only will sign books at this event. But you could bring the book you already have, or buy another one at the museum.
You know, my brother has business dealings in NOLA, and once had dinner with Rodrigue. He said even Rodrigue himself seemed a little surprised that Blue Dog has been such a huge hit. I like his other work much better. But it's the dog that has made him well-known and well-off. So enjoy!
Posted by Diane Lade | May 2, 2008 11:29 AM
Posted on May 2, 2008 11:29