Biggers' upper-room view - John Biggers: murals and painting, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas

Texas Southern University assistant professor of art history Alvia J. Wardlaw on visual artist John Biggers: "One of the most important things to remember about him is that he is someone who has always looked at art as a means of reaching the public, of sharing information and ideas. I think that is why he has remained a narrative artist.

"He is someone who has retained, over 50 years, an emphasis on African-American culture. He was one of the first African-American artists to study and live in West Africa and to bring back to us, in the late 1950s, images of African culture that were positive and personal--and accurate. And I think that is probably his greatest gift to American culture."

Wardlaw is the curator of "The Art of John Biggers: View From the Upper Room," the new traveling exhibition organized by and opening at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in April. The exhibition examines the 50-year development of Biggers' career and features more than 125 works, which include four large-scale murals and several new paintings produced since Biggers' retirement from Texas Southern in 1983.

Biggers returned from his trip to West Africa to publish Ananse: The Web of Life in Africa (University of Texas Press, 1962), which features 83 of his drawings. "From those beautifully narrative and wonderful interpretations of African culture," Wardlaw continues, "he has built upon a personal artistic expression which has, over the past 30 years, delved even further into the meaning of African art, especially sculpture, and incorporated ancient thought of the Dogon of Mali, of the Yoruba and of the Egyptian mystery systems. His work has become much more layered in meaning.

"For the first time, art patrons will get to see his sculpture. This is something that most followers of the artist are unaware of--that he was a strong sculptor at Hampton Institute, and that in his early years here in Houston, he did some incredible work. In looking at his sculpture, we understand his drawing and the monumental vocabulary that he has in interpreting the human form, because he speaks two-dimensionally with a very three-dimensional approach."

"The Art of John Biggers" runs in Houston for five months, beginning April 2, 1995, before traveling to the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh; the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn.; the Hampton University Art Museum in Hampton, Va.; and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibition is accompanied by a catalog.

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