HANCEVILLE, Ala. – Wallace State Community College will present a free screening of the award-winning film “Master of Light” on Thursday, March 14 at 5:30 p.m., in the Recital Hall of the Burrow Center for the Fine and Performing Arts.
The film is the latest in a series of films in the Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Films to be shown at Wallace State. The final film will be shown on April 18.
The winner of the SXSW 2022 Documentary Feature Grand Jury Award, “Master of Light” highlights George Anthony Morton, a classical painter who spent 10 years in federal prison for dealing drugs. While incarcerated, he nurtured his craft and unique artistic ability. Since his release, he is doing everything he can to defy society’s uneven playing field and tackle the white-dominant art world, according to a synopsis of the film. Morton faces his demons when he returns to his hometown of Kansas City. He does so by painting his family members. Diving deeper into his soul with every brushstroke, Morton shines a bright light on racial injustice; on the intergenerational trauma that, inescapably, comes with it. What emerges is a deeply personal tour de force, and a powerful, positive portrait of an artist.
Morton is an Atlanta-based award-winning and internationally recognized artist, specializing in classical painting and drawing inspired by Classical-Realist tradition. His work has been featured in The New York Times and exhibited at Marking Time: Art in the Age of Mass Incarceration at MoMA PS1. Morton is a graduate of the prestigious Florence Academy of Art, and he established his own studio, Atelier South, with the mission of bringing Renaissance-based art to the Atlanta area. George has also led several trips to Egypt seeking the timeless principles and African origins of art and self-improvement.
The remaining film scheduled in the series is the documentary “Hollow Tree” on April 18 at 5:30 p.m., in the Auditorium of the James Bailey Center.
All films are free and open to the public. They are an extension of Wallace State’s Burrow Museum offerings in conjunction with Wallace State Student Engagement.
