EARLIE HUDNALL, JR. (b. 1946)In 1946, Earlie Hudnall, Jr. was born and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. His sense of community within his family and that of the African-American culture is what helped shape his work as an artist. Hudnall began photographing while serving as a Marine in the Vietnam War in the 1960’s. In 1968, he relocated to Houston to attend Texas Southern University and received his BA in Art Education in 1976. There he found the encouragement to continue photographing his subject matter of the everyday for African-Americans in the South. Hudnall made Houston his permanent home and has been working as the university photographer at Texas Southern University since 1990.Hudnall is a board member for the Houston Center for Photography and an Executive Board member in the Texas Photographic Society. His work has been influential in the portrayal of the African-American community and culture. The director of Academy Award winner for Best Picture in 2017, Moonlight, mentioned Hudnall as visual inspiration on how the film should depict African-Americans both aesthetically and symbolically. His photographs are in many notable public and private collections across America, including the Smithsonian, Art Institute of Chicago and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston. Biographical and Career Highlights 1946 Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi1966-1968 Served in the United States Marine Corps.1976 Graduated with a BA from Texas Southern University, Houston, TX 1990-Present Works as university photographer at Texas Southern University, Houston, TX-Resides in Houston, TX where he serves as a Houston Center for Photography Board Member and Executive Board Member for the Texas Photographic Society Selected Solo and Group Exhibitions2017-18 Homecoming: The 8th Biannual Art Alumni Exhibition, The University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX. 2017 On My Journey: The Legacy of John Biggers, curated by Sally Reynolds, Arts Brookfield, Houston, TX.2015-16 Homecoming: The Seventh Biennial Art Alumni Exhibition, The University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX.2014 Houston Founders at City Hall, organized by William Reaves Fine Art and the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, Houston’s City Hall, Houston, TX2013 Homecoming: The Sixth Biennial Art Alumni Exhibition, The University Museum, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX. 2013 African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, Mennello Museum of American Art, Orlando, FL2013 In Conversation: Modern African American Art, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA2012 African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC 2011 Eyes of Texas, Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, TX1998 Solo Exhibition, Museum of Abilene, Abilene, TX1997 Solo Exhibition, Kalamazoo Institute of Arts, Kalamazoo, MI1997 Portraits of a Community: Photographs by Earlie Hudnall, Jr., African American Art Museum, Dallas, TX1997 The South By Its Photographers, Columbia Museum of Art, New York, NY1996 Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Photographs Do Not Bend Gallery, Dallas, TX1996 Project Galveston: Earlie Hudnall, Jr. and the Children of the Galveston Housing Authority, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX1996 The South By Its Photographers, Birmingham Museum of Art, Birmingham, AL1996 Three Visions, Centro Cultural Borges, Buenos Aires, Argentina1995 Changing Perspectives, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX1995 Houston: Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Project Row Houses, Houston, TX1994 Project Galveston: Earlie Hudnall, Jr. and the Children of the Galveston Housing Authority, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX1994 Free Within Ourselves: African American Art in the Collection of the National Museum of American Art, National Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.1994 Portraits of Community: African American Photography in Texas, Diverseworks, Houston, TX1994 Six Texas Photographers, Transco Tower Gallery, Houston, TX1994 Texas Photographic Society’s Annual Governor’s Exhibition, Wunderlich Gallery, Austin, TX1993 Seeing the Forest for the Trees, Contemporary Arts Museum, Houston, TX1993 Fur, Fins, Feathers and More, Galveston Art Center, Galveston, TX1993 Texas Photographers: Recent Acquisitions from the Mundy and Willour Collections, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, TX1993 Earlie Hudnall, Jr.: A Southern Spirit, Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL1993 Diverse Directions, Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX1992 Three from the South: Southern Visions, Dishman Gallery, Lamar University, Beaumont, TX1992 Haiti and Belize, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX1991 Earlie Hudnall, Jr., Benteler-Morgan Galleries, Houston, TX1986 Houston with Love: Reaping and Sowing, Dougherty Arts Center, Austin, TX1986 America: Another Perspective, Tisch Scholl of the Arts, The Photo Center Gallery, New York1984 African-American Photographers of the Southwest 1950-1984, Texas Southern University, Houston, TX1984 Images of the Wards, Houston Public Library, Houston, TX1982 Africa, America and the Black Caribbean, Sutton’s Black Heritage Gallery, Houston, TX1982 Through the Eyes of Earlie Hudnall, M.D. Anderson Library, University of Houston, TX1981 Permanent Photography Exhibition, Kashmere Gardens Library, Houston, commissioned by the Cultural Arts Council of Houston Grants and Awards1997 Annual “Perspectives in African-American Art” commission by Seagram’s Gin1992 Second Prize: “Texas Art Celebration ‘92” Assistance League of Houston1987 First Place, Black and White, ADA Photographic First Annual Competition1981 Cultural Arts Council of Houston Visual Artist’s Grant: “Art in Community Places” CollectionsAmon Carter Museum, Ft. Worth, TXChicago Art Institute, Chicago, ILElisha Johnson Center for the Aged, Houston, TXGernsheim Collection, Lugano, SwitzerlandHarry Ransom Humanities Research Center, UT, Austin, TX Kashmere Gardens Library, Houston, TXLaSalle Bank Photography CollectionMuseum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, ILMuseum of Fine Arts, Houston, TXMuseum fur Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, GermanyNational Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.Texas Southern University, Houston, TXTexaco, U.S.A., Houston, TXVirginia Museum of Fine Art, Richmond, VA