Through his large and bravura paintings, Tarleton Blackwell explores the rich iconography of the South, incorporating elements of art history, children's tales, persistent stereotypes and even commerical imagery. The native of Manning, South Carolina populates his visual world with hogs, opossums, wolves, pit bulls, and cats. However, these animals often assume the role of humans, such as a rooster dressed in the garb of a military general or hogs engaged in a wide range of human activities. The artist's work is not only informed by the fertile regional symbolism of the South but also by seventeenth century Spanish painting and it's avowed master Diego Velazquez to whom Blackwell's art often pays tribute.