Parkersburg Art Center exhibition showcases artwork of Billy Foster
Trending
PARKERSBURG -- A new exhibit will be opening at the Parkersburg Art Center on Friday with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. entitled "The Outlaw: Works by Billy Foster."
Foster was a self-taught artist who was sent to the Moundsville penitentiary when he was 18 and spent the next 28 years in prison creating thousands of pen and ink drawings and oil paintings.
Art collector Benny Dunfee befriended Foster in the late 1980s and began buying artwork from his friend, saying "I just liked Billy." This exhibit is the first time his collection will be on display.
Foster's favorite themes included coal mining, wildlife and rural West Virginia. He admired artists Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell, both depicters of the American West As Foster was creating a scene he is known to have said, "I lived in that picture."
"He had a rough life," said Dunfee. "But he had a good heart and art helped him express himself in a positive way."
Dunfee accompanied Foster on a couple of visits to Moundsville penitentiary in 2005.
"This was a place he called home. Billy asked me to make sure that he would always be remembered."
Foster succumbed to cancer at the age of 64, unaware that his legacy of work would generate a fascination in American collectors two decades later.
The exhibit has been curated by Jose Rizo, who has conducted extensive art research and has over 1,000 pieces in his private collection.
The PAC Exhibit Opening Reception on Friday costs $10 to attend but is free to Art Center members and children 12 and under. Hor d’oeuvres and refreshments will be available.
The exhibit will remain on display through Feb. 24 and can be viewed Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m.- 5p.m. Regular entry to the Art Center is free in 2024 thanks to the sponsorship of WVU Medicine Camden Clark.
The Parkersburg Art Center is located at 725 Market St. in downtown Parkersburg at the corner of Market and Eighth streets with parking in the lots along Eighth Street between Market and Juliana streets. Find out more about the Art Center on Facebook, Instagram or their website www.parkersburgartcenter.org.