My View From Seven Feet is NBA All-Star Joe Barry Carroll’s musing on the mythical qualities some are want to assign to a person standing seven feet tall. Carroll expresses his “view” in the form of figurative and abstract paintings that are celebratory, reflective, and hopeful.
“What flows from my pen and brush feels natural to me. I am never sure if the images create words, or the words move me to images. I am unable to tell precisely what determines my composition of colors, shapes and themes. Perhaps everything is forming at the same time, resulting in a complete story.” - Joe Barry Carroll
curator’s statement
Leatrice Ellzy Wright
My View From Seven Feet is a bold body of work by artist Joe Barry Carroll. Bold in hue, size and statement; the exhibition includes 36 works of acrylic on board. The work embodies everything that is beautiful, authentic and life affirming about black life - specifically black southern life. Carroll gives us an intimate view of himself through his remembrances of the people, places and things of his youth. We even get a sense of the values they held. His heavy use of yellows, oranges, golds and reds offer optimism, inspiration and warmth to the viewer.
The visual storytelling is extraordinary and so easy to lose oneself in. Each image is reminiscent of a tableaux with a memory frozen in time. The story Carroll is telling is fluid, flowing from one image to the next with narratives from the artist accompanying each work. The viewer cannot help but to reflect on their own past, present and future. Having been drawn to storytelling as a child growing up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Carroll recalls sitting near an old open-faced gas heater in the winter or on the front porch during the summer months where his father would entertain him. In a world dictated by the standards of what is considered fine art, Carroll’s works should be the result of extensive formal training and tutoring, but that is not his story. He, like so many self-taught artists, were simply led to create. Carroll's works and narratives speak to everyman.
As I consider the Hammonds House Museum’s theme of “Pursuit” this year, this exhibition clearly represents the pursuit of simply and freely living according to one's own agency. Joe Barry Carroll's Pine Bluff, Arkansas reflections could be mirrored in communities across the South. Despite the challenges of living with the constant threats that came with ongoing discrimination, sanctioned violence against black bodies and institutionalized racism, black people lived their lives as fully as they knew how and pushed forward in pursuit of something better for themselves and those who would come behind. I pen this statement two days after the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade with threats to roll back other hard won rights. As the old adage goes, as much as things change, things stay the same. Even with so much progress, we are still faced with ongoing discrimination, sanctioned violence against black bodies and institutionalized racism. The internal drive to push forward continues to be necessary but it must be girded with supernatural power, ancestral remembrance, keen discernment and a radical shift of how we collectively respond to these very credible threats to our well-being as we enter into whatever is next. Joe Barry Carroll's work in this context represents promise. - Leatrice Ellzy Wright
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Joe Barry Carroll is a former NBA All-Star, and an artist, publisher, award-winning author, philanthropist, and wealth advisor.
Paintings by Carroll have been exhibited at Greater Lafayette Museum of Art, Historic Arkansas Museum, Hudgens Center for Art and Learning, and Purdue University. The abstract and figurative art has been published in, “Growing Up: In Words and Images,” and “My View From Seven Feet,” which also include narratives written by Carroll. His photography appears in, “Black American Voices: Shared Culture and Values” featuring the Zamora Collection of African Art, of which he is the trustee.
Carroll has authored four books: “My View From Seven Feet”, “Black American Voices: Shared Culture, Values, and Emotions”, “Growing Up . . . In Words and Images” and “Coach Lee Rose: On Family and Basketball”. He has twice been featured at the Arkansas Literary Festival, the Decatur Book Festival, and Roswell Roots: A Festival of History and Culture.
Carroll is also a sought after interviewer. He has interviewed renowned artists including Louis Delsarte, Richard Mayhew, and Freddie Styles. Other interviews include best-selling author and award-winning Broadway director Kenny Leon for the Decatur Book Festival Keynote, and retired Coca-Cola executive Carl Ware, also for the Decatur Book Festival.
Carroll was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas and spent his teen years in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Economics, was selected NCAA All-American First Team, and led the Purdue Boilermakers to the Final Four in 1980.
The Golden State Warriors selected Carroll as the overall first-round pick in the 1980 NBA draft. He played professional basketball for eleven years with the Golden State Warriors, Milano (Italy), the Houston Rockets, New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, and Phoenix Suns.
Carroll’s philanthropy began in 1985 when he established BroadView Foundation to support African-American students, communities, and nonprofit organizations. His book sales have funded Georgia Innocence Project, ATL PBA, WABE, ACLU, and Repairers of the Breach, and other nonprofit entities. Carroll has also served on nonprofit boards including the Museum of Contemporary Art and Atlanta Fulton County Housing Authority.
The Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Atlanta Braves honored Carroll as a “Hank Aaron Champion for Justice. He has served on the board of the Museum of Contemporary Art Atlanta, and Atlanta Fulton County Housing Authority. Carroll currently resides in Atlanta, GA.
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