|
|
Information
|
|
Walk into the entry of the building, but make sure you look up. There in the ceiling is a fresco by Charlotte artist Ben Long. The circular painting features many familiar faces. See how many you can identify. The title alludes to the continuous nature of life, the cycle of destruction and rebirth.
Located in the dome of the building's arcade-- 15 feet high and 30 feet in diameter -- that rests atop a three-story arched walkway. Continuum is Ben Long's first curved surface and exterior fresco. The painted surface measures 1, 047 square feet and the dome's circumference is 88 feet. The subject matter represents the cycle of life's continuous disintegration and rebirth, thus reinforcing the notion that the more things change, the more they remain the same.The fresco was completed in March of 1998. Similar to the earliest frescoes found in Europe and elsewhere, Long has painted portraits of his friends and family. His wife and four sons, for example, are depicted beside his self-portrait, the painter at his easel.
About the Artist:Ben Long is a North Carolina native who lives in Asheville, NC and France. He studied art at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Art Students' League in New York. After serving with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam, Long's desire to learn to paint in oils led him to Florence, Italy, where he learned the art of fresco painting under Pietro Annigoni.
|
|
|
|
|
|