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October Issue 2004
The Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, Offers Works by Malcolm Hughes
The mountains are coming to Charleston this fall courtesy of Malcolm Hughes' impressionist paintings of pastoral landscapes. These include scenes of Virginia and the Lowcountry. The exhibition, Malcolm Hughes: From the Hills to the Sea, will take place at The Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, from Oct. 1 - 30, 2004.
Born in Texas, moving on to Taos and now living in the Blue Ridge mountains region since his 1998 relocation to Virginia near Charlottesville, Hughes has studied the American landscape. The artist is a quiet, gentle and peaceful man who communicates this manner to us through his oil medium. Hughes paints "en plein air" following the tradition of the impressionists who found the freedom to work on location after the invention of metal tubes for paint making the oil paints portable. Painting directly from nature, Hughes celebrates life and the beauty of the natural world within which the Creator placed us. Any work that dictates painting in the studio due to size is produced from sketches and observation, not from photographs.
The atmospheric effects created by this direct approach show us the energy of nature - the world around us - as experienced by Hughes. The strong influence of the French impressionists' works he saw and studied in Switzerland when working there as an illustrator is evident. Skies, flora and fauna captivate the artist's eye encouraging a full play of color. He uses the broken color or brushstroke of the impressionists. Breaking down the color versus a broad color field or flat area of color, allows for variety and more unity of color throughout a painting.
With more than 30 years as a painter, Hughes credits the Robert Wood and Porfirio Salinas paintings he was surrounded by as a child for directing him to the landscape as subject matter. His oil paintings have garnered the public attention to the point of sold out shows. His work has been collected throughout the United States and Japan.
The Sylvan Gallery has successfully brought artists known nationally and well known in the west to the southeast. The refreshing display of new works, new artists and varied landscapes has enhanced the artistic community of Charleston. The gallery is the newest member of the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association, a six year old organization increasing world recognition of Charleston as the art destination it has been since its founding.
The gallery looks forward to presenting in November for the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association's Fine Art Weekend, works by Ted Ellis. These are rural southern images reminiscent of his childhood in the African American community of New Orleans. And the year will be brought to a close bringing forth new works by William Berra, whose story reads like a western novel as he was stranded in Santa Fe due to a storm and made it his home.
As the newest member of CFADA, Sylvan brings an added dimension, something different, to the southeastern arts' community. The Sylvans began as collectors and moved on to become dealers as their "retirement." Their love of the time spent living in the west is communicated in the choice of artists carried by the gallery and they have developed a wonderful way to bring the artists of the two sides of the Mississippi River together!
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listing, call the gallery at 843/722-2172, e-mail at (j_sylvan@msn.com)
or at (www.thesylvangallery.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 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© 2004 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.