Wayne White, artist, art director, illustrator, puppeteer, set designer for “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” and subject matter of the documentary “Beauty is Embarrassing,” will be the latest artist in residence for the Shreveport Regional Arts Council’s UNSCENE! White begins his tenure in Shreveport with his exhibition in the Mainspace artspace “I Took Off Work and Came All The Way Down Here,” which will run through Aug. 7.

White will also work with local artists to create a large scale puppet parade for the July 12 UNSCENE! event.

In his exhibition,“I Took Off Work and Came All The Way Down Here,” White displays his unique artistic mind through visually stunning, larger than life threedimensional word paintings. White starts with vintage landscape paintings he finds in thrift stores and adds his statement to the canvas, creating an irreverent yet provocative piece.

The message of the paintings is often thought-provoking and almost always humorous, because, as White said, humor is “preventative medicine.” That humor combines in his art with White pointing a finger at vanity, ego and his memories of the South.

White will also add a fantasy element to his new exhibition with three of his signature puppets towering from floor to ceiling.

“I was very kindly invited by Brandon Oldenburg and Bill Joyce over at Moonbot Studios, particularly Brandon. He told me about the great residency program, and I have never been to that area, and I love the South. It’s great,” White said.

Megan Porter, exhibitions director for artspace, is thrilled to have someone of White’s caliber come to Shreveport.

“I think in the last year or two artspace has been able to bring bigger, wellknown, impressive established artists to this region,” Porter said. “Just to have someone like Wayne White in general – not that I’m discounting any of the previous artists that we have shown here – but these are names that are more recognizable to the general public.”

In addition to his exhibit, during his residency White will work with a team of local artists to create a large-scale puppet parade for the July installment of UNSCENE! on July 12. For the puppet parade, White will combine his artistic skills and personal love of country music and the Louisiana Hayride to honor the historic Shreveport music radio program and artists of the era. “I’m a huge country music fan, I love the old stuff a lot. I did the giant George Jones head [puppet] in Houston. I’m always looking to work with that theme, and it’s a perfect fit. We are going to have some of the stars of the Louisiana Hayride as giant puppets,” White said. “And some of their music to accompany them.”

Born and raised in Chattanooga, Tenn., White has used his memories of the South to create inspired works for film, television, and the fine art world. In 1986, he became a designer for the hit television show “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse,” where his work was awarded with three Emmys. After traveling to Los Angeles with his wife, Mimi Pond – a successful writer, cartoonist, illustrator and graphic novelist in her own right, Wayne continued to work in television and designed sets and characters for shows such as “Shining Time Station,” “Beakman’s World,” “Riders In The Sky” and “Bill & Willis.” He also worked in the music video industry, winning Billboard and MTV Music Video Awards as an art director for seminal music videos including The Smashing Pumpkins’ “Tonight, Tonight” and Peter Gabriel’s “Big Time.” He changed course about 14 years ago and began creating his prolific word paintings.

White’s documentary, “Beauty is Embarrassing” gives a look into the life of an artist, chronicling the highs and lows of a commercial artist struggling to find peace and balance between his work and his art.

Acting as his own narrator, White guides us through his life using moments from a hilarious, biographical one-man show.

“It’s a great job. You get to make stuff that you want to make. I dare you to find someone who doesn’t love a giant puppet,” White said.

For more information about White’s exhibit “I Took Off Work and Came All The Way Down Here” and the July UNSCENE! event, visit www. artspaceshreveport.com. One can also find out more about White and see his work at www.waynewhiteart.com and watch the documentary “Beauty is Embarrassing” at www. beautyisembarassing.com. artspace is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday. Admission to artspace exhibitions is free.

Want to go?

‘I Took Off Work and Came All The Way Down Here’ runs through Aug. 7 at artspace, located at 710 Texas St. in Shreveport.