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W ashington has theCapitol and the Congress, and thereforethe privilege of being

the capital of the United States ofAmerica. However, what makes Wash-ington tick goes beyond the protracteddebates between the Republicans andDemocrats fighting for a hold on thenation's mind. Washington has a cul-tural life and a huge concentration ofmuseums that probably would not befound elsewhere in the world. Thus,central to the Washingtonians apartfrom the politicians are also the scoresof cultural workers who make art hap-pen. Highly rated among which is LouStovall. Seeing Stovall or even hisgallery is strictly by appointment. Sowhen after a cold spring evening'schildren presentation of Hamlet bythe pupils of Sydney Friendly's School(Clinton's daughter attends here).

Lou Stovall: Heroes and Teachers

LouStovall's wife (he never drives) drove myself,their son (who took part in the play) to achoice area of Washington for an inspectionof his gallery and for a dinner. It was likesome kind of privileged initiation. Lou Stovall,58, is a complete artist in every sense of theword. So, his basement houses his wood work-shop and a detached building in the lordlybungalow doubles as the printmaking work-shop and gallery. Still in his unique shade,Stovall reads a poem to me before the follow-

ing interview began, the music in the back-ground completes the environment for an art-ist who is spiritually in love with nature.

Under Stovall's direction. Workshop Inc.. hasgrownfrom a small but active studio primarilyconcerned with community posters, into aprofessional printmaking outfit.

His craft is that of a master printmaker but hehas passion for drawing as the numerouspieces in his gallery shows. Whilst his own

prints and drawings are part of nu-merous public and private collec-tions throughout the world, Stovall'srecognition as a master printmakerhas gained him commissions to printthe works of several other notableartists.

Among these are Josef Albers,LeonBerkowitz, Jacob Lawrence,Gene Davis, Peter Blume, AlexanderCalder, Sam Gilliam, Sydney T.Guberman, Robert Mangold, ReubenRubin, Franklin White, SelmaHurwitz, Jacob Kainem, Paul Reed,Jame L. Wells, Pat Buckley Mess,Breckie Stevenson and Di BagleyStovall.

However, Stovall is well known to theWhite House and Washington. Thusamong his special commissions he

designed the Independence Day Invitationfor the White House in 1982 at the request ofMr. Ronald Reagan. At the request of MayorMarion Barry, in 1986, he made the print,American Beauty Rose for Washington, DC.Area Host Committee of 1988 DemocraticNational Convention.

Leading a community of respected artists inWashington, one cannot but be touched byStovall s looming image of the artist as acommunity leader and servant.

LOU STOVALL: "I CREATEQ

uestion: Who's Lou Stovall? Canyou give us a brief insight into yourbackground, youth and develop-ment as a printmaker?

Answer: As far as I can remember, as a child

until I was four years old. I was born in 1937and in 1941 my family moved north, like somany Black Americanfamilies, to find work.My father found work in Springville, Massa-chusetts and I went to school there. I receiveda grant and a scholarship to the Rhode Island

graduate from college. A German whom Ihad worked for part-time when I was a stu-dent offered me a job. I worked for him fortwo years and I became a foreman of hisprintmaking studio. There I learnt and taughtmyself more about printmaking.

LANDSCAPES OUT OFI was not interested in anything else but art.But I also like writing, so I wrote poetry, I didprinting and made drawings. At the highschool, I went to Rhode Island School ofDesigns, but while there my father became illand he passed away, so I went home to takecare of the family.

Question: Where was home?

Answer: Springville Massachusetts. I wasborn in Athens, Georgia but I lived there only

School of Designs in Providence, RhodeIsland. I was there for one semester and myfather became ill and later he died. I had toreturn home to support the family, until maybefive or six years later when I was releasedfrom family responsibilities to pursue col-lege education again. This time, I went toHoward University.

I had studied drawing and painting beforeand so I opted to specialise in printmaking. Idecided I would try printmaking when I

In 1968,1 received a grant from the PhilipStern Foundation and that grant allowed meto buy equipment for printmaking. But mostof the tools and tables for the job I made formyself for a full scale printmaking, woodmaking and metal workshop. So, here I am at58, having studied art all my life and havingbeen well versed in art history and havingrealised that printmaking was a great me-dium with lots of potentials. That's what Ihave been doing for quite sometime now andnot only have I made prints for myself but I

MY IMAGINATION HAKEEM BELLO

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LouStovall

have made prints for other artists.

Question: Do you have some influence fromyour father or was his a different kind ofpainting?

Answer: It was a different kind of painting.But we used to laugh in my family that thelacquer for painting is in the blood of theStovall people because the basic ingredientthat I used for printmaking was made fromlacquer.

Question: So would you say your art hasevolved over the years or it is still evolving?

Answer: It is still evolving. When I firststarted, I was interested in being an abstractartist because basically that was the fashion.But after a while I realised that I really had nointerest in abstract art but I was interested innature, the way I perceived it in my head andnot that I went out to copy a landscape. I wasinterested in creating a perfect world thatwould be nice to be in so I made landscapesfrom my own thoughts. Later, I evolved withflowers. So, I now do flowers and land-scapes. I think probably if I would everchange my style again, I would do somefigurative works expressing the beauty ofBlack people.

Question: Is the idea of imagining land-scapes also responsible for your experimen-tation with the tandem (circular) art formsinstead of the predominantly conventionalrectangular art forms?

Answer The use of the tandem form hasalways suggested a sense of spiritualism tome. I consider myself a spiritual person be-cause I feel that the healthiness of the spirit isessential to mankind. So, I have a sense that

the round forms isrepresentative ofthe cyclical state ofnature, that lifekeeps moving in acycle.

Question: Do youtrain artists?

Answer: I have twofull time peoplewho work as mystudio assistantsand these are peo-ple who are inter-ested inprintmaking. We

also do matting and printing and we under-take the installation of artworks in profes-sional offices.

I also work sometimes as an arts consultant,buying art for offices and I also feature as oneof the panel of discussants on an arts pro-gramme called Around Town. So, betweenmaking prints, drawings, furniture with myassistants and the arts programme, I lead avery busy life as an artist.

Question: How did the creative writing partcome in?

Answer: The writing part comes in because Ilike to work with creative ideas. Sometimesa picture could be worth more than a thou-sand words and after creating the picture, theimage that I want, I still have more to say.Sometimes, I will write a poem about itsconception.

Question: So the work precedes the poem ?

Answer: Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimesthe portrait precedes the art but to me itdoesn't matter.

Question: Is it true that the American artaudience takes in a lot of colours that brightenthe home rather than depict the grim realitiesof the day? I made that observation to an artsconsultant earlier and he seemed to haveagreed with me.

Answer: Well, it's not 100 per cent true.Certainly, the 35 to 50 artists whose worksare on display in New York galleries and itssurroundings do not all paint in bright col-ours. Some of these household names workwith very bright colours but certainly not allof them. I think that in general, what you saidabout American collectors, not on the highlevel but on the medium level, that one must

have bright, colourful happy art to buy be-cause you are hanging it in your home oroffice or anywhere and it's supposed to pleasepeople. Not many people would want topurchase an art work that's going to depressthem. But a lot of works that come out in NewYork now deals with the grim realities of life,the cutting edge of life and that's what criticswrite about.

Question: To what extent does art and arteducation influence the American person? Idiscovered that every art outlet has veryinspiring patronage. Does it reflect in theAmerican life or it's all simply taken as partof tourism?

Answer: That's a very complex question thatprobably demands acomplex answer. I'll putit this way, art and culture is as important tothe American life as the constitution. In noother country would you find so many peoplewho are so aware of their rights and the rightsof man. Yet there are people who are stillstarving, who are hungry, who do not receiveequal access to education and there are peo-ple who are still being discriminated against.However, we still have the sense of our rightsas still being very important. However, as faras art and culture is concerned, in no othercountry would you find so many peoplegoing to so many places and spending somuch on arts and culture. The country sendsa lot of people or people initiate themselvesto go to a lot of cultural events not only in thiscountry, but also abroad. Predominantlypeople who visit the museum, the memorialsand other historical sites are in search of arts,culture information and science. That's whythe National Air and Space Museum is one ofthe most visited museums in the world be-cause people are fascinated with science.

Question: Does this also include the youngones?

Answer: All the schools regularly take theirpupils to the museums, to the galleries andthe monuments. The families also during theweekend, take the children to all these places.So, the children grow up accepting the mu-seum as a part of their recreation even thoughthey make the usual complaints that theywould rather be at in the fields playing. Butthey go to these places all the same and areusually proud to exchange their experiencesin school with their mates.

Question: So what would be the effect on allthese if the politicians who are advocatingfor budget cuts at all levels carry the day andthe National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)is slashed or abolished?

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Answer: My response to that will be that artshave never been wholly dependent on thesustenance or subsidies of the politicians oreven of the arts community or the collectors.Art would go no matter what. A very goodexample of this is that in the darkest hours ofGermany, much as the state strove to ensurethat nobody was making arts, there werepeople who still make art poking fun at thestate. In every culture that we can think of,most of the arts are usually focused on theways that we make wars against each other.The artists have always managed to set them-selves apart and make comments on thesociety. I don't mean art just in terms of thevisual artists but also the plays, the musicalperformances and even films in which youhave responses to the political climate.

Question: Does your being an African- Ameri-can influence your work? In other words doyou have the sensibility of an African-Ameri-can?

Answer: No. That's why I said earlier that ifI changed styles again I would want to dosomething in that direction. Of course, anartist can't say when I change my subjectmatter, this is what I am going to do becauseonce you are in front of the canvas you are notalways the one in control of the communica-tion between you and the canvas. Sometimesyou want yourself to do one thing and some-thing else comes out. So at times when I hopethat maybe I'll have the opportunity to makesome images of B lack people it may not workout and I'll turn them to flowers .

Question: Could that be attributed to the factthat you probably left your family roots tooearly because your father went to work else-where and you didn't have enough time totake in the environment?

Answer: Not exactly. I was born in the Southand at that particular time, I don't think anyBlack person of my age at four would bethinking about that or even ten years afterthat. I think that I found my roots by the timeI was seven years old and I began to realisewhat I was interested in. I started makingdrawings and I expressed the desire for mu-sic and so on. I felt very much a part of theNew England culture because I found infor-mation and education more accessible and Ithink that, that way lots and lc:s of scholarshave come from the South. But I also thinkthat the South have lost lots of potential greatscholars by not educating them properly. So,I feel very fortunate that I was not left in theSouth.

Question: : Can you tell us how far you've

travelled with your art?

Answer: I've had exhibi-tions in many cities of thiscountry (United States) and Ihave taken my work to Lon-don. I've had an exhibitionin former Soviet Union nowRussia, and in some of theCaribbean Islands.

Question: Do you still hopeto visit African either to ex-hibit or teach?

Answer: I'm very interestedin talking to Africans andlistening to people from Af-rica. I feel that I see a greatdeal of the arts from my Af-rica. I mean about the wayAfrica feels and I would liketo take my works there andshare some with other peo-ple. I think that we have takensome of the best of arts fromAfrica they are placed in themuseums here and in Lon-don. So, I think that is notbeing fair to Africa. Theywon't be able to show thebest of their arts to their chil-dren unless they go to for-eign countries. So, I am in-terested in going to Africa toshare my ideas with its peo-pie.

Question: What future do you see forprintmaking, especially with the advance-ment of technology and computerisationof even the arts? Do you see the personaltouch to printmaking gradually disappear-ing?

Answer: No. Not for me. I think that nowbecause we have the computer graphics,laser colours and all that there will be a bitof difference but it's still not producingthe great art that the print is. There is avery unique sense of what a print is, whatit feels like and it looks like. I think thatthere would always be a place for fine artsprints that's separate. There is a differentmarket for such prints, that's special andvery expensive.

Question: How about the business side ofarts generally? I learnt in the course of my

Top: Lou Stovall, Riyht, 1989Centre: Lou Stovall, Morning Stream, 9/11/81Bottom: Lloyd McNeill, Feed Kids, '69

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I'm very interested intalking to Africans andlistening to people fromAfrica. I feel that I see a

great deal of the arts frommy Africa. I mean about

the way Africa feels and Iwould like to take myworks there and share

some with other people. Ithink that we have takensome of the best of artsfrom Africa they are

placed in the museumshere and in London. So, Ithink that is not being fairto Africa. They won *t beable to show the best of

their arts to their childrenunless they go to foreigncountries. So, I am inter-ested in going to Africa to

share my ideas with itspeople.

trip that it costs a lot to move art worksaround especially in form of insurancecharges. Won't this affect the quality andquantity of international exhibitions espe-cially for the famous artists?

Answer: It's been affected already. Ten, fif-teen years ago, it was very easy to borrow awork of art to show in any exhibition, nomatter how small or insignificant. But now ithas to be something very, very importantbefore the works can be given out. I think it'sthe National Gallery of Art that doesn't havea great deal of trouble getting the works butmost other museums have a great deal oftrouble doing that. And insurance are theproblem really, because insurance covers areso expensive to get. You pay for the fullcoverage of the work and most shippers andfreighting concerns also carry their owninsurance.GR

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