Dwight “Kuimeaux” Drennan made art every day. His approach to working was compulsive and methodical, the way of an isolated artist. A passionate and personal relationship with the places he lived and traveled to, and the magical natural worlds of Arkansas and Louisiana manifest a true sense of place in his compositions.
Kuimeaux’s drawings and paintings become wild Southern mythic scenes blending observation and imagination. As an artist and a naturalist, he was a collector of historical information and stories about the South and the places he lived. Current events and politics also served as a catalyst for his illustrated narratives and storytelling.
Well-read and educated, he received a college degree in Political Science with a History minor. During his senior year in college, he took art courses. This introduction to basic design and studio materials fostered his love of the visual arts and his passion to make art.
He didn’t accept limitations or restrictions on his time or behavior. His job was making art and recording life and the natural heritage in the Delta region of Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi. His work becomes an intersection between traditional Western art and regional art rooted in the soil of Americana.
He looked to artist Henri Rousseau as a mentor. Like himself, Rousseau was largely self-taught and created imagery packed with exotic foliage, imagined scenes and remembered places. Parallels can also be drawn between the paintings by Arkansas artist Carroll Cloar and Kuimeaux, where the landscapes of the rural South take center stage.
The most personal work in this collection is the envelope art, drawings created on the outside of correspondence sent to his friends and family. These illustrations are crowded scenes packed with anecdotes often referencing the person receiving the letter.
Victorian, Southern Gothic vernacular and Greek Revival architectural styles and small-town Main Street facades are referenced in many compositions.
Kuimeaux’s visual language built on the scenery from his travels, New Orleans, Louisiana and Oxford, Mississippi notable among them, as well as the places he lived, Little Rock, Monroe, Louisiana, and Scott, Arkansas.
Being a Political Scientist, he had a keen interest in politics. Growing up in central Arkansas, he was clearly aware of the 1957 Central High events and the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The 1970s, '80s and '90s were an exciting time in Arkansas politics. Dale Bumpers, David Pryor and Bill Clinton were all playing a part in the forming of a more liberal atmosphere for the state. The culmination of Governor Clinton’s run for president was on his radar and showed up in his work.
Artists are not born out of nothing. An artist comes from relationships with others that foster the love of art and creation. They pass that on. Kuimeaux shared his love of art and history with his friends. A group of his friends from Harmony Grove and Little Rock and one of his family members have put together this website featuring a virtual exhibition to spotlight his studio practice.