Southern Heat: Southern Idioms Personified in Julianna Wells’ Exhibition

Written by Greysen Strumpler

Images by Greysen Strumpler and Julianna Wells

'Party of One' by Julianna Wells.

Pine forests, dense foliage, and a humid climate, kudzu, open green areas, rolling hills, rivers, and creeks, hiking trails, rural towns, and Southern sayings—these are all elements of Georgia and much of the Southeast that inform and inspire Julianna Wells's work. 

Julianna Wells is a local artist who was raised and is actively working in Harris County, the neighboring county of Muscogee County. Compared to Muscogee County, which is known for its namesake, Columbus, Harris County is rural; it is characterized by dense forests, green farmland, small country stores, and mountain trails, all of which are common to Pine Mountain, the small town where Wells lived as a child. 

In her Southern Heat exhibition, Wells explores the nostalgia of South Georgia rural life, and the setting itself acts as a main character. In her work, she uses Classical art techniques that she learned from her mentor, Bo Bartlett, and the New York Academy of Art, and she intersects them with the quiet, Southern setting. 

Much of Wells’ work takes inspiration from Southern idioms that have been given life, akin to phrases that any Georgian recognizes like ‘bless their heart,’ ‘Lord willin’ and the creek don’t rise,’ and ‘too big for his britches.’ Wells plays with this type of figurative language not only to depict them representationally, but to use a specific culture and location to explore deeper themes.

The pieces themselves are like nostalgic, oral stories shared many times by grandparents at family dinner. Figures feel like, or in some cases are, personal friends that you would meet in a small community. The animals represented are friends like the ones that you pass in the fields as you go home, sometimes even waving to them as you pass. It is sweet, cozy, and has an intertwined, interconnected narrative like tales shared about people in your small town while you try to quickly piece together family trees and relations during a conversation.

Common threads and motifs that run through this body of work include but are not limited to: farm animals, outdoor place-settings, gingham, wheelbarrows, and plastic garden chairs. Pieces are rich with a palette of lush greens and earth-toned pigments. References to art history run throughout, with many of Wells’ pieces being set upon a tableau composition, where figures and objects are placed like set-pieces on a stage with dramatic lighting; periods of work that utilize this style most similar to hers are those of 19th-century Romanticism and 19th-century Academic Art. Wells studied at the New York Academy of Art, which teaches techniques found throughout art history, so, understandably, she can effectively use these elements and partner them with her unique and distinct artistic voice.

For many viewers, standout pieces include ‘Going to Heaven in a Wheelbarrow,’ ‘Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner,’ and ‘5th and Brotherton,’ with the latter being included in the ‘Artist in the Spotlight’ space in the Bo Bartlett Center and the Artfields Festival in Lake City, South Carolina. 

The best place to begin viewing the exhibition is from the left side of the Illges Gallery, where a studio space has been set up by Wells. She placed objects meaningful to her to make the space more ‘homey’ or similar to a ‘nest.’ Elements of the studio are her  plein air painting box, her straw hat that she wears while painting outside, studies from the New York Academy of Art, and smaller alla prima pieces that are like an appetizer that set the mood for further viewing. This area allows the viewer to gain a personal sense of the artist herself, something that is absent in many exhibitions, other than an artist statement that is posted on the wall.

In ‘Going to Heaven in a Wheelbarrow,’ Wells actually depicts an unconscious figure being pushed along while in a wheelbarrow. She says that the piece was inspired by the song of the same name by The Dead South, a contemporary folk band, in which the saying is a subversion of ‘going to hell in a handbasket.’ The original saying of ‘going to hell in a handbasket’ comes from the stained glass windows in Fairford Church in Gloucestershire, and Hieronymous Bosch’s ‘The Haywain’ triptych, in which both literally depict sinners being carted to hell in a handbasket. One of the most notable parts of the composition is the limp arm of the unconscious figure that hangs from the wheelbarrow, another reference to art history. It honors the 18th-century piece ‘The Death of Marat’ by Jacques-Louis David, which is in itself a reference to the Pietà, a marble sculpture of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ by Michelangelo from the 15th-century. As artists in centuries before made references to their predecessors, Wells continues to solidify her spot in the group. “I feel like paintings should always be in conversation with other paintings, because they are like clues to draw the viewer into the piece.”

‘Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner’ is a chaotic scene of what must have once been a setup for a quaint garden party. The viewer can imagine that the table was once set elegantly; cakes, fine china, glasses of wine, vases of flowers, and a white linen tablecloth once sat untouched, waiting for the attendees to arrive. But now, the scene has been invaded by chickens that have crashed the party, and a dog that is in the process of invading what is now the chickens’ own party. Wine glasses have been spilled, with red now staining the white linen, and food has been strewn on the grass below. The saying comes from betting in the 1920’s where if you won the gamble, you had enough money to purchase a chicken dinner at the casino. Wells says the piece is about celebrating the small victories along with the big ones, like gamblers back in the day. “The scene here is chaos, but at the same time, it's really beautiful. I feel like that is how life feels sometimes.” This piece is also referenced amongst other pieces included within the exhibition that create continuity and connectivity among the works, with a story that is implied, yet fully realized. 

In ‘Fifth and Brotherton,’ two figures are once again placed upon not only a tableau-like composition, but an actual tableau as their chairs and tables sit upon a wooden deck that acts as a stage, while the wooden planks play with simple linear perspective. Two players engage in a game of chess, glasses of bourbon beside the board, and one figure smoking a cigarette (which seems to be an easter egg that shows how the table fire may have begun in other pieces in this body of work). Wells explains that the piece was inspired by Thomas Eakins’ painting, ‘The Chess Players.’ She wanted to honor this piece while also integrating her Southern twang. She explains that the figure in the painting who is placing the game piece is a family friend who is a skilled chess player, who is able to beat anyone in her family, and the figure across the table is his brother. She continues by explaining that the piece exemplifies mentorship. “David's role as a chess master becomes symbolic of mentorship. As he engages in the match, his interactions with his brother extend beyond gameplay. The nuances of each move echo life lessons, emphasizing the importance of resilience, and are a reflection of the broader journey of self-discovery.”

'5th and Brotherton' by Julianna Wells

When asked about how Wells developed her voice as an artist, she explains that the visuals of southern nature always inspired her, but she didn’t quite know how to make it distinct while in her undergraduate program. As an undergraduate student at Columbus State University, she was taken on as a student by Bo Bartlett, a Columbus local and world-renowned narrative painter whom she has respected since first seeing one of his pieces in the Columbus Museum as a child. She later attended the New York Academy of Art, where she studied her previously mentioned classical painting techniques. It was here that she realized that the scenes of the South were ‘exotic’ to others from the north. Once fearful that her work was too run-of-the-mill, she realized that she could delve deeper into the themes of Southern living to create a foreign atmosphere to some and a nostalgic one to others. Here, she studied with Steven Assael, another artist whose work she has admired since a child, as well as Margaret Bowland, a powerhouse of a painter and professor who also grew up in the South, something that they could connect on.

Wells’ extensive studies amongst other classically trained artists have led her to become the artist that she is now: technique-oriented, art history-respecting, unique-voiced, and always looking forward, never stagnant. Through her dedication, she not only continues her successful art practice but also teaches art at Columbus State University, where she can continue the legacy of passing on wisdom to still-evolving artists.

‘Southern Heat’ is on view at the Illges Gallery through June 27. Wells also has three paintings that she is working on live on the left side of the gallery, which has been converted to a studio as part of the Illges Gallery’s new Artist Project Space initiative. Be sure to visit not only for her beautiful work, but to observe her process. ◼️