July 2013

Hampton III Gallery in Greenville, SC, Features Fine Art Print Exhibit

The Hampton III Gallery in Greenville, SC, is presenting King Snake Press: 15 Years, featuring works by SC artists made at King Snake Press, on view through July 20, 2013.

A celebration of 15 years of King Snake Press artists is on display at Hampton III Gallery. Four artists from the Hampton III Gallery stable (Paul Yanko, Enid Williams, Carl Blair, and Edward Rice) are featured, along with six guest artists’ works (Mary Gilkerson, Patti Brady, Phil Garrett, Linda McCune, David Yaghjian, and Katie Walker) These artists are working in the mid and upper regions of South Carolina.

King Snake Press was founded in 1998 by Greenville artist, Phil Garrett. The name was derived from Garrett’s interest in Blues Music and Southern Folklore. The studio grew out of his love for the painterly process of creating monotypes which he has explored since the mid-80’s. With a BFA in printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute and having worked with several master printers, Garrett wanted to encourage other artists to participate in this process. Throughout the 15 years of service, over 40 artists have come through King Snake Press, creating their own unique visions.

Sharon Campbell, an appraiser of fine art in the upstate, states: “Creating original prints at King Snake Press is a collaborative project between artists who would not otherwise be able to print on this scale, and Phil Garrett, an artist, master printmaker and owner of the press. Monotypes are often characterized by elements of chance, spontaneity, and surprise that are unique to this form of printmaking. The process has been described as ‘transferred painting,’ creating a unique impression from a printed plate.”

Though making monotypes sounds direct and simple, expertise and the experience of a master printer are required to achieve the kind of finished prints seen in this exhibit. Although the spontaneous quality of the process is attractive to artists, the techniques provided by a master printer can lead to wonderfully complex and subtle results as well.

King Snake Press has had a tremendous impact on the forty or so artists who have worked there over the years. The chance to collaborate with a master printer allows people of many disciplines to become comfortable with a very different approach to printmaking. The artist brings the ideas, and the printer offers technical advice and handles all the studio management, freeing the artist to focus on the artmaking.

One of the defining moments for King Snake Press was the 2002 exhibition See How We Are at the Greenville County Museum of Art. Twenty-five artists were chosen to work with Garrett; a number of them had not previously made monotypes - and some hadn’t made prints of any kind. The artists selected came from a wide variety of disciplines and included sculptors, painters, and ceramists. Sponsored by the museum, each artist spent two days with Garrett at the press. Many of the resulting prints were shown in the exhibition, and many of these artists still work with Garrett.

Collaborations like these are the very heart of King Snake Press: artists, a master printer, and finished works. Garrett’s own aesthetic is not reflected in the collaborative works. Each artist leaves, ultimately, with his or her own vision in the form of transferred paintings, monotypes.

The exhibition can be viewed on line at (www.hamptoniiigallery.com).

For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 864/268-2771 or visit (www.hamptoniiigallery.com).

[ | July 2013 | Feature Articles | Download Carolina Arts' Current Issue | Carolina Arts Unleashed | Home | ]