July Issue 1999
Outsider Inside Winthrop University Exhibit
Selected Drawings by Gene Merritt are on view in the Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick Gallery in the historic Rutledge Building at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC. Photographs of Merritt by Swiss photographer Mario Del Curto will accompany the exhibition. The exhibition continues though Sept. 14, 1999.
Merritt, a Rock Hill resident, began his career as a visual artist seven years ago producing his first drawings at his "regular table" at Watkins Grill, a local diner in downtown Rock Hill. Since that time, his work has been exhibited in Columbia, SC's Meteor Gallery, during Piccolo Spoleto in Charleston, SC, and the Very Special Art Gallery in Washington, DC. Internationally, he has had exhibitions in Japan and Switzerland. His work is represented in major public collections including the Collection de l'Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland, the Musée d'Art Brut in Paris, the South Carolina State Museum and the Museum of York County, both in SC.
The Winthrop exhibition is a survey of selected drawing over the past six years. The exhibition also includes photographs of Merritt at work and with his friends by Swiss photographer Mario Del Curto. The black and white photographic images with accompanying text help put this artist and his work in the context of the community where he is a vital cultural asset.
"Work of this nature has been called many things," says Winthrop Gallery director Tom Stanley. "Outsider art, folk art, primitive art are just a few of the labels. I think that the term 'self-taught' may be the most accurate. The real attraction of this work is that it is honest and so vital. We are constantly looking for those qualities in our lives and in our forms of expression. In the case of Gene Merritt, that vitality walks down our streets, speaks to us everyday and helps give our community its identity."
Photographer Mario Del Curto will present a lecture in early Sept. at a time and location to be announced. This exhibition project was funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment of the Arts.
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery
listings or call the gallery at 803/323-2493.
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