Artist Winfred Hawkins’ “Comedian” To Open at the Birmingham Public Library on July 5

Winfred Hawkins, Pietà (in memory of George Stinney, Jr.), mixed media on wood panel, 32’ x 48”

Birmingham, Ala. - An exhibition of works by award-winning artist Winfred Hawkins will open at the Birmingham Public Library on Friday, July 5. The show is titled Comedian and will be on display in the Fourth Floor Gallery at the Central Library through Friday, August 30. 

Comedian features Hawkins’ brilliantly colored, mixed-media pieces. Curated by Paul Barrett, Comedian was originally presented at the International Arts Center at Troy University earlier this year.

A reception for Hawkins will take place in the Fourth Floor Gallery on Saturday, July 6, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. The reception will also honor Dale Lewis, the sculptor behind the show Cabinet of Curiosities currently on display in the Central Library’s Lobby Gallery. 

Please come meet and converse with these two artists about the works featured in their respective exhibitions, as well as about their careers as artists. The reception and exhibitions are free and open to the public.

Winfred Hawkins, the artist behind the exhibition Comedian 

About the Artist 

Born in Montgomery, Winfred Hawkins started drawing at an early age. He developed his drafting skills by watching his father draw and by copying animals from nature books. While attending Booker T. Washington Magnet High School in Montgomery, Hawkins was commissioned by the Rosa Parks Museum at Troy University to design ten bronze roundels for the outside of the museum. He completed the project after graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2007. 

After suffering a nerve injury in 2012 that affected both arms, he changed his style considerably to use both hands. Hawkins mostly uses his non-dominant right hand for sketching, but sometimes paints an entire work right-handed. He reserves his left hand for work that is more involved in style, as well as subject matter. 

With this technique, Hawkins creates original characters, incorporating them into his own unique mythology and artistic style. 

In 2020 he worked with two other artists to create a mural on the side of The King's Canvas art studio in Montgomery on historic Oak Street, along the route where hundreds of Selma-to-Montgomery marchers walked to the state capitol in 1965. Hawkins received the Alabama Artist Award from the Huntsville Museum of Art during the 2020 Red Clay Survey and the BOOM! Magazine Award from the 44th Montgomery Art Guild exhibition at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts in 2021. 

View a video of Hawkins speaking about Comedian while it was on display at the International Arts Center at Troy University earlier this year.

Learn more about Winfred Hawkins on his website at winfredhawkins.com, on Instagram at #winfredhawkins, and on his Facebook page.

By Margaret Splane|, Library Assistant III, Fundraising and Outreach

Winfred Hawkins, Flying Battery Baby, mixed media on wood panel, 8” x 8”
 

Winfred Hawkins, Sheeple Floating in the Ether, mixed media on wood panel, 24” x 24”