Woody Cornwell, Atlanta abstract painter and co-founder of Eyedrum, has died
South Carolina native was 48
Woody Cornwell, an Atlanta abstract painter and arts scene luminary who helped found Eyedrum, has died. According to the Chatham County Coroner’s office, the South Carolina native died on April 12 of natural causes at his home in Savannah, where he had been teaching artists. He was 48.
“Woody had an amazing combination of Mad Genius, Smooth-Talking Salesman and Roadside Prophet about him,” says Nikki Grote, a friend who met Cornwell while she modeled for figurative classes in Atlanta. “He could just as easily sell you a painting on a gum wrapper as he could a magazine ad. He always had the highest adoration for his family and friends and even through his most difficult times stayed true to his ideals.”
“He was brilliant,” says Pam Longobardi, who advised Cornwell as a MFA candidate at Georgia State University. “Smart as hell, funny, and… polite. His MFA thesis paper was so good someone accused him of plagiarizing it because they couldn’t keep up with Woody’s abstract mind.”
In 1997, Cornwell and roommate Marshall Avett started throwing free jazz shows in the Trinity Avenue Loft they dubbed Silver Ceiling — friend Clayton Felker says they used tin foil to keep the ceiling in place. The following year he and other artists rented out the space below and launched Eyedrum, a gallery and music space that filled a void in Atlanta’s arts scene with underground and avant-garde acts.
Cornwell’s abstract paintings — friend Unisa Asokan has photos of some of his work on her Flickr album titled “Woody Cornwell Life on Hapeville” and Woody on Nelson Street — have been exhibited in Atlanta, Paris, New York, Miami, Austin, and Los Angeles, and proudly hang on the walls of friends who have been posting memories and photos of him and his work on a memorial Facebook site.
Cornwell, who in 2009 spoke with Creative Loafing about the financial hardships facing artists, also taught at major arts centers and schools, including Chastain Arts Center, the Callanwolde Fine Arts Center, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and the Atlanta College of Arts. He was also a board member of Art Papers Magazine, where he also sold advertising on commission, and the Forward Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Committee, among others.
Services have not yet been arranged. Look for an extended piece on Cornwell’s life in next week’s Creative Loafing.