JACKSON — A group of paintings regarded as the most important work by self-taught Mississippi artist O.W. “Pappy” Kitchens (1901-1986) are currently on exhibit at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Trustmark Grand Hall.

Kitchens painted his magnum opus, “The Saga of Red Eye the Rooster,” between 1973 and 1976, the collection consists of 60 panels, each one measuring 15 inches square and composed of mixed materials on paper. The artist presents a homespun Pilgrim’s Progress in the form of a beast fable, following Red Eye from foundling to funeral, exploring the life of this extraordinary bird. Red Eye’s quasi-human behavior inevitably maneuvers him into conflicts with antagonists of all sorts. He encounters violence, avarice, lust, greed, and most of the other Seven Deadly Sins, dispatching them in heroic fashion until he finally succumbs to his own fatal flaw.

Kitchens was born in Crystal Springs and began painting at age 67. His self-taught, narrative, visual art springs directly from the oral tradition of parable and storytelling with which he grew up. A self-declared folk artist, Kitchens said, “I paint about folks, what folks see and what folks do.”

The exhibit is presented in conjunction with the book “Pappy Kitchens and the Saga of Red Eye the Rooster” by William Dunlap in 2019 by University Press of Mississippi.

Dunlap is an American artist, arts commentator, and writer. His paintings, sculpture, and constructions are included in public and private collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Art, and the Ogden Museum of Southern Art. Dunlap is the author of numerous publications including “Short Mean Fiction: Words and Pictures” and “Dunlap” and “ the latter also published by University Press of Mississippi.

Dunlap will be at the Mississippi Museum of Art on Thursday, Aug. 15, during the museum’s After Hours event. He will give a short talk about the exhibit and sign books.

This exhibition is free and open to the public.

The Mississippi Museum of Art is located at 380 South Lamar St. in Jackson. Museum hours are Tuesday-Saturday, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, from noon-5 p.m. For more information, call 601-960–1515 or toll-free 1-866-VIEWART.