Pull back the curtain on a rare and riveting relationship between two pillars of Southern narrative art — William Dunlap and Noyes Capehart.
This exhibition is not only a visual conversation between two distinguished painters, but a testament to a mentorship that grew into an enduring friendship, spanning more than five decades.
From their early days in the studios of Ole Miss, where Capehart served as Dunlap’s graduate professor, to their shared tenure at Appalachian State, and finally to decades of mutual admiration and artistic exchange, their story is as layered as the canvases they present.
At the heart of both artists’ work lies an abiding passion for storytelling — not as illustration, but as atmosphere. As narrative realists, they lean into the power of image to evoke memory, myth, and mystery. But their approaches, like their personalities, diverge in captivating ways.
Theatrical, philosophical, and laced with dry wit, William Dunlap’s work often operates in what he coined hypothetical realism — images of places don’t exist but feel entirely believable. His expansive Southern landscapes are populated by disquieting symbols: Civil War riders, disappearing dogs, stage-like draperies, and allusions to American history and literature. These are not passive depictions but allegorical stage sets where past and present coexist in unresolved tension.
Dunlap’s paintings are meditations — framed worlds where form is always in service to idea. There’s a rhythm to his brushwork, lyrical cadence that feels like Faulkner read aloud. His work draws viewers in not just to see but to contemplate, to stand inside the hush between narrative beats.
Where Dunlap leans mythic, Noyes Capehart leans inward. His compositions carry a poetic intimacy, with visual symbols pulled from personal memory or dream. His aesthetic is grounded in traditional realism, but always with a door left ajar for emotion, for interpretation, for the viewer to step aside.
Capehart’s work often recalls diary pages — carefully composed yet emotionally raw. The objects and figures within feel reverent, like relics in a story only partially told. His commitment to narrative is quieter but no less potent, deeply rooted in the psychological and spiritual dimensions of everyday life.
exhibitions
Aug 20 - Sept 13
Open House Saturday, August 23rd, 4 - 6 pm
In tandem, their paintings form a remarkable duet — two Southern storytellers walking similar roads with different stride. Their bond, built first in the classroom, now pulses through decades of correspondence, conversation, and creative kinship. In their latest bodies of work, sublet nods to each other’s influence remain — Capehart’s introspective silence meeting Dunlap’s bold provocation in visual counterpoint.
Come see what happens when mentorship becomes dialogue, and dialogue becomes legacy. More than an exhibition — it’s an invitation to witness the layered story of two lives, two visions, and one shared journey through paint.
Exhibition
August 20 - September 13
Saturday, August 23, 4 - 6pm
open house