By Staff
ARTIST SPOTLIGHT – Clo Ann Rabb is widely known for her oil paintings and other types of mixed media. Photo by Pauala Merritt / The Meridian Star
By Elizabeth Hall / special to The Star
September 29, 2002
Every post-football Saturday morning, Clo Ann Rabb makes a dutiful trek to Ray Stadium and begins picking up trash.
Rabb is not a custodian, and, though the environmentalists would be proud, she is not making the world a cleaner place.
She is, however, making art. The empty soda cans of last night's game will likely take their place on Rabb's canvas.
Though Rabb is widely known for her oil paintings and other types of mixed media, she said her "metal collages" have brought her more recognition than any other style.
Rabb was first introduced to art during World War II. Her husband was serving in the Navy at the time, and they traveled constantly.
After coming to Meridian in the late 1950s, Rabb studied with Homer Casteel and taught private lessons in her upstairs studio. She has also been part of the Mississippi Art Colony for many years.
Rabb's upstairs studio is reserved, primarily, for painting, while her "metal studio" in the basement is where she shapes and welds her collected scraps.
Her collages tend to include a variety of materials not only metal, but oil paints, rice paper, gold leafing and countless others. Rabb said most of her latest pieces are attached to a board or canvas.
The current, religious-themed show at the Meridian Museum of Art features a piece by Rabb entitled "I.H.S."
The piece, which is a multi-media depiction of Jesus' crucifixion, was partially inspired by the Byzantine art of Eastern Europe.
The crown of thorns made of bent nails, the splintered wood and the strips of copper, is especially striking to viewers as is the aluminum foil-mask, which represents Jesus' face.
Clo Ann Rabb's work is currently on display at the Meridian Museum of Art and carried by K. Fulton Art and Frame.