| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
October Issue 2003
Carolina Galleries in Charleston, SC, Features Exhibition of New Works by Several Gallery Artists
Carolina Galleries in Charleston, SC, has mounted
a show entitled New Works, an exhibit that portrays Charleston
and the Lowcountry through the eyes of both painters and printmakers.
The exhibition will be on view through Oct. 31, 2003.
Following a long tradition of artists from Thomas Coram and Charles
Fraser through the artists of the Charleston Renaissance, these
artists find inspiration in the surrounds of the Lowcountry. The
quiet atmospheric scenes of Craig Crawford, the moody unforgettable
landscapes of Stephen Chesley, and Margaret Peery's bold and bright
impressions of Charleston architecture fill the gallery walls
with light and color. Peery's newest works are a departure from
her known approach to landscape. These are strong color architectural
commentary on the light of the city. The charming etchings of
John Andrew Burmeister portray scenes of Charleston including
Colonial Lake and the Ben Sawyer Bridge. These images invite the
viewer to step into that quiet moment caught by the artist. The
works of Lese Corrigan captures the viewer's eye with her use
of texture and movement. In these exciting linocuts she portrays
Charleston and her citizens. Stephen Scotts Young's portraits
and marine scenes are breath taking. His intricate use of line
and texture create an intriguing atmosphere individually expressed
in each of his etching.
Born in 1952 in New York, Stephen Chesley grew up in Virginia Beach. He is a modern tonalist painter yet credits diverse artists such as Inness, Hopper, Pollack, Rembrandt, & Seurat as influences in his work. His paintings often depict the fleeting light of dawn & dusk, combined with primordial elements such as water, wind, and fire. His work is in the collections of many corporations and the State of South Carolina art collection among others.
Craig Crawford first became interested in painting through his grandfather, himself a painter and an architect. He then trained in the field of Painting Conservation with Charles Olin, former head of Painting Conservation at the Smithsonian Museum and the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. During apprenticeship, Crawford spent endless hours studying American landscape paintings and those of the French Barbizon school. He works from oil sketches done on location and digital images. Crawford paints in a straightforward traditional manner, and his paintings are infused with the light and shadows of the South. His works are often mistaken for those of the 19th century, a tribute to his mastery of the craft.
Emerging from North Carolina, Margaret Peery now resides in Charleston. Peery started painting in 1981 inspired by the beauty of the Lowcountry. She developed her own style involving layering washes. Peery loves color and enjoys painting atmosphere; her pieces often have "big" skies anchored by small strips of land. Peery is a signature member of the Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Southern Watercolor Societies. In 2002, she had a piece accepted in the Allied Artists of America 89th Juried Exhibition at the National Arts Club in New York. Her work can be found in the collections of the Bank of America, Carolina First, Federal Reserve Bank, Roper Hospital, the Gibbes Museum of Art and many private collections.
John Andrew Burmeister's work is the newest addition to the gallery. He has work in the Maitland Art Center Museum and worked for Disney as a costume illustrator. He has studied printmaking, photography and graphic art.
Lese Corrigan was born and raised in Charleston in the mid-fifties. Studying art through the works of the French masters, she developed a style of her own that incorporates the abstract and realism in one. Revisiting the printmaking she first tried in her pre-teens, Corrigan restricts herself to black and white in her linocuts as opposed to the bright colors she is known for in her paintings. She is forced to search the forms for strong linear qualities and to convey texture by varied mark making. The work is bold and striking in the elegance of black and white reminiscent of the prints of the first half of the 20th century. Corrigan was commissioned by Coca Cola to create a work presented to Former First Lady Barbara Bush and has work in collections throughout the United States, Great Britain, France and Japan.
Born in 1958, Stephen Scott Young emerged in the 1980s as one of the most important realist painters living in the United States. In 1985, he won first prize in watercolor in American Artist's national art competition. Scott Young is an anomaly on the modern American painting scene. His paintings and etchings are strongly influenced by the important realist painters Winslow Homer and Thomas Eakins. Known for his watercolors as well as his etchings, he produces images of a timeless quality and ethereal nature which also tackle the practical matters of social issues at hand. Most collectors of his work are primarily enthusiasts of American 19th Century painting. Young has had solo shows in the Hunter Museum of Art, Jacksonville Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Art, Florida and has work in the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art and the Greenville County Museum of Art.
Carolina Galleries began in 1963 as Carolina
Prints and Frames. Means Art Shop existed prior to this date and
upon the death of Means in 1963, it was purchased by Raymond Holsclaw.
The first name change occurred at this time. Holsclaw's passing
in 1987 preceded the purchase of the gallery by Johnson Hagood,
Anna Onufer and Margaret Peery. Currently the oldest existing
gallery in Charleston, it specializes in the art of the Charleston
Renaissance as well as work of the artists of the New Charleston
Renaissance. Paintings, prints and fine museum quality framing
are all available from Carolina Galleries.
For more info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call
the gallery at 843/723-2266, e-mail at (info@carolinagalleries.com)
and at (www.carolinagalleries.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2003 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston
Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts
from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts
Online, Copyright© 2003 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved
by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use
without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina
Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.