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October Issue 2007
Hatfield 2 Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, Features Surreal Works by Peter Scala
Hatfield 2 Fine Art Gallery in Charleston, SC, is presenting the exhibit, My Mind Projected on a Flat Surface, featuring works by surrealist artist, Peter Scala. The exhibition will open on Oct. 4 and continue through Oct. 16, 2007. The exhibition will include six paintings, including 2 egg tempera works, recently completed.
Scala is a surrealist painter who paints in oil and egg tempera. This show features two of his most recent egg tempera paintings Lux and Discussing the Opaque Mysteries of the Universe. "My egg tempera paintings take time to complete. Egg tempera paintings are composed of many layers of color. Paint strokes vary, but all are short, lightly touching strokes to the gesso panel," Scala explains.
This show features 6 paintings completed with a grant from the Lowcountry Quarterly Arts Grant Program. Lost in Still Streets, a 40" x 30" oil painting shows two figures in an urban setting, with a solitary street light. There is a bit of Kafka here; an alienation of the common man. Another, The Magic Flower, is a complex, involved painting in which the viewer can create his or her own story, ultimately leading from "Bat Person" to the woman almost hidden from view, so absorbed in the forest setting.
As with the majority of Scala's work, his titles lead the viewer back to the painting time and again to ponder and think; to follow the story line and interpret his work as you see it. Lux is a perfect example of this. Yes, it is light. It is also magical. You see a warm, creamy yellow background highlighting the mask (or is it figures?) floating above it; locked in place by the smaller, perhaps mystical symbols. Always thought provoking, Scala's work invites you to spend time looking at his work; to think and follow the lines and figures through the painting.
Before moving to the Charleston area five years ago, Scala lived and painted in Asia and Africa. Accompanying his wife, Pat, who worked for an international organization, Scala developed his egg tempera technique. He often tells the story that after having difficulty finding eggs during their two years in Zanzibar resulted in their only criteria for future postings was the availability of fresh eggs. Scala starts each day with a sketch; a practice begun in 1994. Some document moments and events of the time, his sketches are a source of ideas.
After more than 20 years of setting up studios, establishing contacts in local arts communities, only to pack up after a few years; Scala is pleased with his home and studio in North Charleston.
Scala learned to paint from his parents, Elizabeth and Victor Scala, who were Greenwich Village artists. As an adult he worked as a civil engineer. When he started painting again, as a weekend painter, he experienced the creative enjoyment of painting and set a goal to paint full time. His paintings evolved. Looking at his work, you will be drawn into a visual experience that is surreal and provoking.
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/577-7710 or visit (www.hatfield2fineart.com).
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