Mitchell Bradford Cashion

TUSCALOOSA | Mitchell Bradford Cashion, surrealist painter, age 61, died January 16, 2015, at Hospice of West Alabama, after a long illness which rendered him blind. At the time of his death he was planning to live out his life as a "blind painter." His last words were: "Something weird happened!"
Mitchell worked many years for the Capstone Poll at the University of Alabama. The main focus of his life, however, was the surrealist movement. He was always a man who followed strict principles, even if the principles, while surreal, were his alone. Mitchell was widely recognized as possessing considerable intelligence, wit and creativity. He was proud of his election to the International Surrealist Society.
Cashion gained international status when his work was reviewed by José Pierre in his book "L' Univers surréaliste", Somogy, 1983. His paintings have been displayed at the Pompidou Center, Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
In 1970's Tuscaloosa, he was a member of the Raudelunas Art Collective. Other members of the Raudelunas included: the Rev. Fred Lane, guitarist Davey Williams, violinist La Donna Smith, composer Anne LeBaron, furniture maker Craig Nutt, collage artist Janice Hathaway and artist Fletcher Hayes. In January 2013, the University of Alabama Ferguson Center Art Gallery presented a retrospective of Raudelunas Art which Cashion's works among others.
Until the very end, Mitchell B. Cashion's life was lived as an act of continuous surrealism, where even the dust on his floor was art! He has willed his ashes be spread at the Rock of Cashel, Ireland.
A memorial gathering in Mitch's honor will be held at Tuscaloosa Brewery Company, Sunday, February 8, 2015 at 7 p.m.!