Menerbes
Studio
by Joe Dudley Downing
Two
walls with windows,
One wall without.
At the rear, the village backbone, raw rock.
My easel stands erect, ladder or gallows.
Outside, a roof,
Its rounded tiles freckled and tan
Attentive to the sun like dinosaur eggs,
Spotted gray and yellow with lichen.
Outside also life clings to the wall,
A climbing rose,
Passion flower,
Wisteria, flambing bush.
Together and each in turn they flower,
Move,
Give off their perfume,
Absorb or reflect light of the sun, light of the moon,
Are rinsed by rain, by dew.
Far off, the rocks and the trees of the Luberon chain
And its undulant line barring the sky.
Sky, mountain, stub-limbed locust tree,
Little wild garden, window, easel, brush.
There is the most silent of noises.
Bristles on linen.
In the heat, grass grows,
Its seeds fall.
A dog barks.
1999
Governor's Awards in the Arts
National Award Recipient Joe Downing
"Joe Downing is a visual artist who has taken his Kentucky roots and shared them not only with the rest of the nation but with the world. His years growing up on a tobacco farm near Horse Cave continue to inspire his work as a painter and sculptor even though he has made his home in France since 1950, dividing his time between Paris and the southern village of Menerbes. His art has been exhibited in France, Sweden, Italy, Canada, Mexico, Germany, and other counties, and yet he never forgets his native Kentucky roots. He has had exhibitions in Owensboro, Bowling Green, Louisville and Horse Cave, as well as Cincinnati, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston, West Virginia and Seattle. His work can be found in the permanent collections of museums in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Israel, Canada, Australia and the U.S.
Joe Downing holds the distinction of being one of three Americans to exhibit work at the Louvre Museum in Paris, France; the other two artists being Whistler and Tobey. Downing is also a writer, having published two books of poetry as well as articles about the art world."
1999
Awards Program
