VIRGINIA BEACH — You don’t expect the acclaimed artist Ken Wright to greet you when entering the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art.
But his image is on a large video display that welcomes visitors just outside of the “Collector’s Edition,” an exhibition in the main gallery which highlights the connection of MOCA to the collectors who support the work and culture celebrating art.
Art is subjective to one’s personal view. At its best, the artist has the power to touch lives. And one of the best calls Hampton Roads home.
Collector’s Edition, which runs through the end of the year, has a range of great work. Many art enthusiasts know or are familiar with Wright and the cadre of other artists featured.
“Ken Wright is incredibly generous with his time and wisdom,” said Kendall Chandler, education coordinator at MOCA. “He is such a staple to our artistic community. He is such a staple to our creative community. We feel fortunate to work with him.”
Wright is a former graphic artist at The Virginian-Pilot who continues to create fine art, as evident in his painting on canvas, “Morning Breeze,” on display. He teaches art, too, and he has written and illustrated the book, Buffalo Soldier and Black Cowboy History, and he is a historian of the famed cavalry troops of color who served after the Civil War and beyond.
A horse lover, he is the founder of Buffalo Riders of Hampton Roads, reenacting and representing history.
And, of course, he has had significant success as a fine artist. Wright, a Richmond native, said he never dreamed his work would be in the collections of two presidents, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
His 2018 work, “Morning Breeze,” shows Wright shines with the best Hampton Roads artists who have elevated art.
“My father was my biggest influence growing up,” Wright told me. “My father was also an artist and musician who started making a living as an artist.”
Wright attended Maggie Walker High School, where he played basketball – and tuba and trombone in the orchestra. He enrolled at Norfolk State University and earned a graphics and fine arts degree.
“A. B. Jackson, my painting instructor, was very influential to me,” Wright said of the late painter and professor, who, after teaching at Norfolk State, became the first African-American faculty member hired at Old Dominion University.
And Wright, too, is an educator.
“Ken teaches his students in a way that encourages and inspires them to grow as artists,” said Juliana Perez-Lopez, Wright’s instructional supervisor at Homeschool Out of the Box. “He can start with a student who is an absolute beginner and teach him how to love and create art with passion. He has been teaching with us for a long time. The students call him Mr. Ken. His classes are always popular, and the kids love him.”
She told me she visited MOCA recently to see the exhibit with her family, and they were delighted – particularly to see Wright’s work.
“His abstract art has a depth and emotion to it that cannot be described with words,” she said. “It draws the viewer in to explore their interpretation and understanding of the piece, which will be different for everyone.”
An art critic once said about Wright’s work that he does not paint people, places or things. His work is movement.
“My art requires discipline and focus to create the abstract form,” Wright said. “I started many years ago painting traditional (imagery). However, this was different from the true Ken Wright. I wanted to be free and paint as I saw the form.”
It means the viewer refrains from taking in the first impression, he said, and lingers a while with the work. “Hear the melody, see the movement and feel the emotion.”
The author is a writer and documentary filmmaker who grew up in Norfolk and lived in Virginia Beach for much of his life. He ran a production company, worked in college athletics and was curator at an art gallery in Virginia Beach for years.
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