October Issue 2000
Spencer & Sumner Art Gallery Celebrates Grand Opening
One of the newest galleries in Charleston, SC, the Spencer & Sumner Gallery at 55 Broad Street will host a Grand Opening Celebration and Reception on Oct. 6, from 5pm until 8pm. The public is cordially invited to preview the eclectic selection of contemporary paintings and prints during the reception. This is one of the few art galleries to feature a sculpture garden.
"We carefully selected only five painters to provide an exciting range of artistic styles including abstraction, impressionism, post-impressionism, traditional landscapes and seascapes and realism in oils, acrylics, collages, mixed media, and watercolors. All the artists we feature have won awards for their art and all are still developing and growing in fascinating directions," said owner and manager Jerry Spencer.
Catherine Brandt-Spencer, the co-owner and co-manager, talks about the artists in the gallery. She says, "Billie Sumner is a well-known Charleston artist who has won many awards, has been painting for more than 25 years and has her work in numerous collections nationally and internationally. She has evolved to become one of the most exciting abstract painters in the Southeast. Billie gave up her own gallery which she owned and managed for 19 years on Chalmers Street and decided to exhibit her work in our gallery and now has more time to devote to her art."
"Martha Sharp is an award winning impressionist painter working mostly in oils. Her subject matters, strong brushwork, palette knife techniques and intensely bright colors have earned her much favor from avid local, national, and international patrons."
Sandra
Baggette
"Sandra Baggette has been painting professionally for over 20 years and has won numerous awards. She has a delightful post-impressionist style which many have compared to Matisse. Her bold use of color and design concepts combine with her subject matter to produce striking paintings that appeal to a wide range of collectors and patrons. Sandra paints mostly in oils and watercolors."
"Jerry Spencer is versatile. His paintings range from watercolors, acrylics, and colleges, to oils. His sculptures range from wax, stone and metal to wood. He has won awards in both painting and sculpture. His work has strong design concepts and communicates significant messages. Although his first artwork was produced in 1970, Jerry postponed his career as an artist in order to teach business and arts management courses in various colleges and universities, serving 23 years at the College of Charleston. He is now concentrating full time on his own artwork and running the gallery."
Regarding her own work, Catherine Brandt-Spencer says her strong feelings about her native Lowcountry landscape and architecture is reflected in much of her work. "I am also developing a strong interest in abstractions. Although I have won quite a few awards painting mostly in watercolors and oils, I am now exploring collage and various mixed media and painting in the abstract as I develop as an artist."
The sculpture garden offers exciting promise. According to Jerry Spencer, "We plan to offer the work of sculptors from the Southeast with a particular leaning toward local and regional artists. Both indoor and outdoor pieces will be offered. We are developing plans for some truly unique exhibits."
Whimsical, serious, metaphorical, fun, thought provoking - all describe the sculptures of Martha Bostick Gunter which will be the first exhibit at the Spencer & Sumner Gallery's Sculpture Garden. The exhibit starts during the Grand Opening on Oct. 6 and continues through Nov. 30.
Gunter is known as a connoisseur of found objects. Under her skilled and creative hands, all manner of discarded things including mechanical parts and cast-off objects come together to create "personalities" and experience new beginnings.
Gunter has developed a three-dimensional style of her own. Rescuing, revitalizing and rehabilitating discarded things energizes her. She has become so well known that often things (or "surprises" as Gunter calls them) often appear in her driveway, volunteering to begin a new life in art.
"We are extremely pleased to have Martha's delightful artworks as our opening exhibit in our new sculpture garden," says Jerry Spencer.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings or call the gallery at 843/722-6854 or check them out on the web at (http://www.charlestonliving.com/spencersumnergallery).
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