Francis X. Pavy is a visual narrator of South Louisiana’s vibrant culture. The series 36 Views of the Gulf South is inspired by Hokusai’s famous woodblock series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. Hokusai’s series uses Mount Fuji as a vantage point, detailing different scenarios and locals with Mount Fuji as the primary image or secondarily to the scene, usually diminutive in the background. The title Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji is a misnomer because there is an appendix of 10 additional views.

36 Views of the Gulf South, a series of woodblock prints, borrows its name for Hokusai’s series. It will use the Gulf South as a metaphor and vantage point instead of a physical location like Mount Fuji in Hokusai’s work. The series will perhaps have an appendix of 10 additional images. A book will be made of all the images and narratives.

Pavy is one of Louisiana’s most recognized artists. His work pulses with color and musical rhythm, grounding abstract dimensions in Southern motifs that play on themes of mysticism, love, nature, humor, and friendship. Pavy’s work has been included in over 20 major exhibitions worldwide and his paintings are in the permanent collections at the Morris Museum of Art, New Orleans Museum of Art, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, as well as numerous private collections.