Sean Fitzgibbon exhibit at UAM
“What Follows Is True: Crescent Hotel,” an exhibition of paintings by Sean Fitzgibbon, can be viewed in the Glassblock Gallery in the Fred J. Taylor Library and Technology Center at the University of Arkansas at Monticello now until Nov. 15. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
From 1-3 p.m. on Nov. 15, Fitzgibbon will give an artist’s talk in the Visual and Performing Arts Complex at UAM. The artist’s talk will be followed by a closing reception for the exhibition in the Glassblock Gallery from 4:30-5:30 p.m. The exhibition and events are free and open to the public.
“What Follows Is True: Crescent Hotel” is a haunting and beautiful hand-painted, exhaustively researched, 240-page nonfiction graphic novel that depicts the mythologies surrounding the Crescent Hotel’s strange history as the Baker Hospital, a Depression-era cancer hospital in Eureka Springs. The graphic nonfiction blends oral histories, newspaper articles and Norman Baker’s biography to examine this strange and controversial legend, as well as the rise and fall of a demagogue, according to a news release.
Fitzgibbon, the artist, explores unusual places and events through his work. He has a Master of Fine Arts degree in art and interest in making art and visual storytelling.
He is a 2021 Artists 360 recipient and a 2022 recipient of the Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship Award for graphic nonfiction. Fitzgibbon has exhibited work throughout the United States and also writes and illustrates documentary-style graphic nonfiction books, according to the release.