“Path of Light” by Brent Funderburk
EXHIBITING THROUGH NOVEMBER 2024
An artist known for his large, exuberantly hued, watermedia paintings as well as energetic teaching and lectures, Brent Funderburk is a Charlotte, North Carolina native who has worked as a teacher and administrator for three universities over 40 years.
Funderburk is a 2024 Mississippi Governor’s Arts Award recipient and William L. Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Mississippi State University where he taught for 36 years. He was recognized with some of the University’s highest academic, teaching and research honors including the Southeastern Conference Faculty Excellence Award, the John Grisham Teaching Award, the Ralph E. Powe Faculty Research Award, and the Burlington Northern Faculty Excellence Award.
Living a robust life of art practice and travel, the artist has researched and produced passionately, working in mixed mediums, on site and in the studio in Starkville, Mississippi. Funderburk’s work has been published widely, in periodicals and annuals such as Watercolor Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Artists Magazine, Creative Quarterly: The Journal of Art and Design, Studio Visit, Southwestern Art, Splash: The Best of Watercolor (American Artist), and in museum publications. He has presented 35 one-person exhibitions across the U.S, and has been represented by galleries in Atlanta, Charlotte, New Orleans, and Memphis with works in public and private collections across the U.S. and abroad.
Brent Funderburk has curated, lectured with, and written for exhibitions that have toured U.S. museums. Further, his artwork has been juried into over 100 regional, national, and international shows, with numerous awards. He has spoken and taught extensively on the life and art of Walter Inglis Anderson, such as in association with the Smithsonian Institute exhibition, “Everything I See is New and Strange”, and with the show he curated, “Ecstasy: The Mystical Landscapes of Walter Anderson,” that toured museums in MS, FL, TN and LA, from 2008 to 2011. In 2010, Funderburk was named the Official Artist of the USA International Ballet Competition, and in 2015-16 his art toured China in seven museums. He has taught in U.S. national parks as well as in Italy and has conducted numerous painting/drawing workshops across the country.
(photo by Megan Bean / © Mississippi State University)
As a noted presenter, Funderburk has lectured in hundreds of venues, including museums, galleries, universities, and at regional/national conferences. His areas of expertise include American watercolor painting, modern American visionary artists such as Walter Inglis Anderson, Charles E. Burchfield, and Will Henry Stevens, as well as Robert Henri and his circle, and his own art.
The artist is married to dancer/choreographer Deborah Wyatt Funderburk, a former university professor who has taught studio dance and dance history, while directing the development of Terpsichore, the Mississippi State University student dance theatre company. They reside in Mississippi and have two adult sons.
Website: www.brentfunderburk.com
