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'Agrarian Series' In Show at UR

Conway Thompson's "Agrarian Series," a show combining sculpture, poetry and old farm implements in an elegiac tribute to Virginia's rural past, will be on view at the University of Richmond's Marsh Gallery tomorrow through Oct.  30.

There will be a reception for the artist from 3:30 to 5 p.m. tomorrow. The show is open to the public without charge.

Ms. Thompson, who lives in Buckingham County and is a native Virginian, has been working on "Agrarian Series" for seven years. She is a graduate of Cooper Union, N.Y. and has taught at the Virginia Museum, the University of Richmond and at Longwood College.

"I have tried to create a sculpture/poetry environment," the artist said. Her sculptural assemblages combine actual farm implements, bales of hay, sheep's wool, harness and other traditional country things, and each grouping is accompanied by a related poem Title of the groupings include  "For a Young Cousin Long Dead," which includes the skull of a horse killed in battle during the  Civil War; "The Hunted Hart," about deer-killing in rural Virginia, and "I Dreamed I Went courting Behind the Morgan Mare," which includes spokes from an old wagon wheel. Some of the groupings are dedicated to friends and relatives; others are more universal in feeling.

"People are sometimes surprised to find an artist dwelling so much on the past," Ms. Thompson remarked. "But I think a great deal of America's strength comes out of the past, and this is what I try to bring out."

[[image]]
Katherine Wetzell photo
'FOR A YOUNG COUSIN LONG DEAD' BY CONWAY THOMPSON  
Work is part of Artist's "Agrarian Series" in Marsh Gallery Exhibition

A-41 Richmond News Leader, Sat., Oct. 4, 1980