David McClister’s photograph series “Rastlin – A Southern Survey” will be open for viewing on Friday, Dec. 2, in The Cole Art Center @ The Old Opera House in downtown Nacogdoches.
The exhibition, which documents small town wrestling in the South, is part of the Stephen F. Austin State University School of Art’s Gallery Series and will be on display in the Reavley Gallery.
McClister, a Nashville-based photographer and music video director who specializes in documentary, photojournalism and celebrity portraiture, began the series in 2009 by visiting different venues each weekend.
“There was something about this world—the sounds, the smells, the fans—the action inside and outside the ring—everything about it—that fascinated me,” wrote McClister in his artist statement for the exhibition. “To me (the series) is a complete look at what small town local wrestling looks like.”
The exhibition of photos will be included in a book of the same title being released by The SFA University Press in the spring.
McClister’s photographs have appeared in publications such as Garden & Gun, Rolling Stone, GQ, SPIN, Esquire and Marie Claire. He has also done photo shoots for major record labels, including Warner Bros., Capitol/EMI, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG and major ad campaigns for clients such as Tide and Digitas.
His music videos for artists Lady Antebellum, The Band Perry, Dia Frampton and LeAnn Rimes have won numerous awards and appeared on MTV, VH-1 and CMT.
McClister will give a gallery talk at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19, shortly before the exhibition closes on Saturday, Jan. 21.
The show is a joint presentation of the SFA College of Fine Arts and School of Art and is sponsored in part by the SFA Friends of the Visual Arts and Nacogdoches Junior Forum.
The Cole Art Center is located at 329 E. Main St. Regular gallery hours are 12:30 to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Admission is free.
For more information, please call (936) 468-1131.
