秘密研究所

Artist Returns to South

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Posted on February 18, 2022

Thomas Becnel

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For his mixed-media art on display at the Marx Library, Herbert 鈥淢annie鈥� Pair III used everything from paint to fabric and clothes pins.

Years ago, the 秘密研究所 graduate and Mobile artist was browsing through a shop when he saw a package of tiny clothes pins. He thought, What in the world? But he bought them, took them home, and hardly gave them a second thought.

鈥淭hen one day it hit me,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to do what鈥檚 called a 鈥楽aturday鈥檚 Wash鈥� painting. You do clothes lines and you do clothes pins.鈥�

For his retrospective in The Mary Elizabeth and Charles Rodning Gallery of Art, which is open through February, Pair offers a series called 鈥淔abric of the Past,鈥� with pieces such as 鈥淕randpa鈥檚 Banjo鈥� and 鈥淕randma鈥檚 Yo, Yo Quilt.鈥� There are also 鈥淔ancy Chairs鈥� 鈥� actual chairs with hand-painted designs 鈥� along with collages such as 鈥淭ransformation鈥� and 鈥淪ailing the Bay.鈥�

Visitors to the show have a lot to see.

鈥淚 have various styles,鈥� Pair said. 鈥淔olk art, which is prominent here, and historic Mobile scenes. Then I have a totally abstract style, where I just let my mind take me wherever. Nothing鈥檚 planned. I don鈥檛 know when I鈥檓 finished until I鈥檓 finished.鈥�

Paula Webb, outreach and communications librarian, was happy to choose Pair for the first Marx show since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in 2020. On a tour of the exhibit, 鈥淎 USA Son Comes Home,鈥� she points out rural Alabama scenes, along with design elements that range from printed paper to upholstery samples.

鈥淚n this one, he鈥檚 got fabric and he鈥檚 got paint,鈥� Webb said, 鈥渁nd then he makes it three-dimensional, using a lot of gesso, building it up, and that鈥檚 another technique that takes a lot of skill. He鈥檚 utilizing a lot of skills that he鈥檚 gathered over time.鈥�

Michael Smith, a retired attorney in Mobile, has been collecting Pair鈥檚 art for many years. He considers him an unappreciated local artist.

鈥淚 like the way he uses fabrics and different things with textures, and I think he鈥檚 good with colors and contrasts,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淚 haven鈥檛 seen other artists do work like he does in Mobile.鈥�

Pair, 50, earned a degree in graphic design from the 秘密研究所 in 1993. He was president of the Student Art Association and communications chair for the Student Government Association. He also sang with the USA Concert Choir.

For more than 25 years, he owned the Victorian Teal Art Gallery on Congress Street, along with Pair鈥檚 Printing & Graphics. He鈥檚 a former member of the board of directors of the Mobile Museum of Art, the Mobile Preservation Society and the Mobile Historic Commission.

His downtown art gallery, which won an award from the Preservation Society, was painted teal blue with plum shutters and cream trim. In person, Pair favors designer eyeglasses with gold filigree circling round rims.

The inspiration for 鈥淔abric of the Past鈥� was the stories of his mother, Ada Minor-Pair, whose family came from Dallas County, Alabama. She moved to Mobile when she was 8 years old.

In 2019, Pair and his mother published a 400-page book, 鈥淭he History of Black Baptist Churches in Mobile County, Alabama.鈥� They spent more than a decade collecting information on 141 congregations. He did the art work for the cover.

Art Life in Mobile 

Pair grew up in Toulminville neighborhood of Mobile. His father was pastor of New Liberty Park Baptist Church. His father and mother started a business, Pair Printing & Graphics, that he still owns and manages.

His grandmother was the one who gave him his nickname.

鈥淪he said I looked like a little man, or Mannie,鈥� he said, laughing. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the story they told me.鈥�

As a boy, Pair was musical, singing and teaching himself the piano and organ. He was artistic, too, with the encouragement of his parents.

鈥淚 was always doing something creative,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 could see things in common objects, like milk cartons or paper towel rolls. My first passion, I wanted to be a float builder, so I鈥檇 make little floats out of shoe boxes.鈥�

After graduating from LeFlore Magnet High School, he enrolled at South. He was active in art groups and student organizations. Even then, the campus was growing, and he and a friend helped move equipment into the Visual Arts Complex.

鈥淏efore then, the art department was scattered across campus,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e were thrilled to death to have a new art building.鈥�

After earning his degree at South, Pair renovated an old house on Commerce Street and opened his own art gallery.

鈥淚t was like a continuation of what I鈥檇 already been doing with the student art association,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 loved organizing students and artists, and I enjoyed the sales aspect.鈥�

Pair was worked with several local churches over the years. Right now, he鈥檚 a minister of music at the St. Louis Street Missionary Baptist Church in Mobile and the Greater Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Atmore.

Last year, after his mother died, Pair sold his gallery and moved Pair Printing back to its home office in Toulminville. He has a Facebook page for the art gallery and hopes to start a web page. The Marx Library retrospective gave him the opportunity to take stock in his life and his work.

鈥淚鈥檒l be creating more art,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 whenever the inspiration hits you.鈥�

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The retrospective on the art of Herbert 鈥淢annie鈥� Pair III will be on display until the end of the month in The Mary Elizabeth and Charles Rodning Gallery of Art on the third floor of the Marx Library at the 秘密研究所, 5901 USA Dr. North, Mobile. 

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