Artbeat

Gallery founder's stored art a show

Norman Scott, who signed his art N. Scott, posed for this photo in 1997 with one of his works of art. A show of newly discovered works hangs through June 30 at Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock.
Norman Scott, who signed his art N. Scott, posed for this photo in 1997 with one of his works of art. A show of newly discovered works hangs through June 30 at Cantrell Gallery in Little Rock.

The boxes sat on a high shelf in the basement art studio of N. Scott at Cantrell Gallery for years.

Painter Norman Scott, who founded the gallery with his wife, Helen, opened a studio there in 1990 when the business expanded into a next-door space.

"He was very prolific," says Cindy Scott-Huisman, the Scotts' daughter. "He'd box up drawings, studies, handwritten notes, paintings and put them up on a shelf."

Last year, the gallery went through a remodeling and downsizing. As they dismantled Scott's former studio, Scott-Huisman found boxes on a high shelf. In January, she went through four 32-by-40 inch boxes.

"I found things that were finished, along with some practice pieces, drawings and studies. It took a lot of sorting to see what all was there. There were little handwritten notes with title ideas that went with each piece. His titles are hilarious and he also wrote some narratives that reveal his thinking and creative process."

Of an abstract woven pattern, Norman Scott wrote: "One time ole M's fancy little Instamatic camera accidentally took a picture inside the pocket of his favorite sweater ... to be con't."

About another work, showing part of a face: "No one was more upset than Pierre the pit bull, the day that he ran through the area where sign painters had begun working on the window display for the all '80s party/dance that would be held in the Community Hall. But Maurice did wonder if he would be able to get all the paint cleaned up or would this just have to be his new look ... to be con't."

All that time she spent sorting through those boxes paid off, as Scott-Huisman set aside pieces for the gallery's current show of Scott's work, "N. Scott: ... to be con't." It is only the second time the gallery has featured her now deceased father's work. He signed his art N. Scott. The show will hang through June 30.

Helen Scott says most of the show came from the basement trove, though none of the works displayed have been shown before: "Norman rarely dated anything, so we're not sure how long ago the pieces were created. We did find one work dated 1990. There are a few things that are really 'wow' pieces and a number still have his traditional faces and storylines."

But there was a surprise in the boxes -- abstracts.

Scott-Huisman says, "This was an aspect of his art we had never seen."

Helen Scott and Scott-Huisman laugh as they recall the experience of Norman Scott's first show at the gallery in 1997.

"We had a last-minute cancellation," Scott-Huisman says. "But he said he wouldn't do a show unless we had a book to show the pieces and titles so people could understand the narrative. It was crazy, but it was lots of fun and we got it done."

The artist had another requirement.

"Norman told me he wouldn't attend the opening," Helen Scott says. "He hired an actor to portray him at the opening."

Norman Scott wasn't too far away, though.

"He was in the back room making rum punch while the opening was going on," Scott-Huisman says, laughing.

Helen Scott says her husband's quirky antics infused not only his art, but also everyday life.

Norman Scott, who died Aug. 24, 2010, was a native of Crossett, a graduate of Ouachita Baptist College who attended law school at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. He opened Art Fair gallery in Little Rock in 1970, which would later become Cantrell Gallery.

On Sept. 11, 2010, Cantrell Gallery hosted a party in his memory. People were invited to sit in front of a camera and share funny stories about Norman. A DVD of the stories was played during the opening of the new exhibit.

Helen Scott says her husband's art had something to say:

"His big message was 'Don't take yourself seriously, don't stay in one box with your creativity.' He believed that everything is art."

Scott-Huisman says her father wanted his art to generate a reaction: "It didn't matter to him if the reaction was positive or negative; he just wanted people to feel something. That guided me in choosing the pieces for this show. His art brings happy emotions out of people ... it's fun and quirky.

"I'm very proud of his art career and that it can live on in new and exciting ways."

And there may be more of N. Scott's artwork.

"There are several more boxes I haven't gone through," Scott-Huisman says. "They are on an even higher shelf."

"N. Scott: ... to be con't.," through June 30, Cantrell Gallery, 8208 Cantrell Road, Little Rock. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday. Visit cantrellgallery.com or call (501) 224-1335

OPEN STUDIO

George Dombek's annual Spring Open Studio continues this weekend and Mondayfrom 1 to 6 p.m. each day at the artist's Northwest Arkansas studio, 844 Blue Springs Road, Fayetteville. For information, call (479) 442-8976.

The studio will show Dombek's new abstract paintings and earlier works from series on barns, bicycles, trees and rocks. There also will be new glass works. Dombek created the recently installed chapel windows at Arkansas Children's Hospital Northwest.

photo

Courtesy of Cantrell Gallery

This colorful abstract of a face in part of the previously unshown work of Little Rock artist N. Scott currently hanging at Cantrell Gallery.

photo

Courtesy of Cantrell Gallery

A woven pattern is the subject of this N. Scott work that hangs as part of the Little Rock artist’s show “N. Scott: to be cont.”

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Style on 05/22/2018

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