Place It/Face It: Pottery by Eugene McMissick Museum, University of South Carolina (Aug 18 – Dec 15, 2018)
The ceramic works of Winton and Rosa Eugene feature sensitive portraits of African-Americans, scenes of Southern landscape and vernacular architecture, and messages of identity, ecological concerns and social justice issues. These subjects are presented via painted or carved imagery on everyday functional forms or large commemorative vases and bowls, as well as sculptural vessels.
The Eugenes are not the products of academy or apprenticeship. They are self-taught, which makes their achievement all the more impressive. Winton was an arty kid who was always told “you can’t do that for a living” so he sold carpeting and then became a hog farmer when the couple (both brought up in the South) decided to relocate from Chicago to South Carolina to be closer to family. Rosa was a nurse. Winton carried a sketchbook and camera and made oil paintings of
