Feature Articles


January Issue 2001

Tippy Stern Fine Art in Charleston, SC, Offers Exhibition of Photography

For the first time exhibiting in Charleston, are two artists with a unique collection of work at the Tippy Stern Fine Art gallery in Charleston, SC. North Carolina artist, Susan Page will be exhibiting photographs, which are visual reminders of faith taken from different cultures of the world. She uses different materials and remnants of religious rituals to create a spiritual presence within her work. Canadian artist, Clara Gutsche will be exhibiting photographs from her Convent Series, which are concentrated on life from within a close knit spiritual community. Gutsche's work, which seems literal at first glance, becomes more intriguing as to one questioning why they are posed in this way.

Susan Page

The collection of work by Susan Page is entitled Messages, which deal with a religious context that is in essence a search for "both signs of living ritual and vestiges of past faith." For the past fourteen years she has been photographing Christian religious communities, and their sacred symbols. She has not restricted this search to the United States, but has ventured out to places such as Israel, Italy, and Mexico to name a few. She describes her images as: "symbols of what ties people together. They are messages from the past to the present, from believer to believer. A pile of ashes from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a roadside cross, a worn tin milagro - these things, made sacred by a human investment of faith, dreams, aspirations, represent a shared belief in a better world, in brotherhood, in the power of the spirit."

Clara Gutsche

Clara Gutsche, produced a series of work entitled The Convent Series. These are photographs taken from inside convents in Québec to portray and expose the essence of a "spiritual community." She describes herself as a cultural anthropologist, who relies more on experiences in a social unit more than relying simply on the research.

"My point of departure in making these photographs was to study the cultural significance of the Catholic Church in Québec. I began this series of photographs when I realized that many of my Québécois friends had been educated by nuns and that many have an aunt, sister, or niece who belongs to a religious community."

For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/534-0028 or on the web at (http://tippysternfineart.com).

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