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October Issue
2008
Artspace in Raleigh, NC, Features Works
by Meredith Steele and Ashley Lathe
Artspace in Raleigh, NC, is presenting two new exhibitions including: Figure Studies, featuring works by Meredith Steele, on view from Oct. 3 through Nov. 1, 2008 in the Upfront Gallery and Big River, featuring works by Ashley Lathe, on view from Oct. 3 through Nov. 1, 2008, in the Artspace Lobby gallery space.
Meredith Steele
For painter Meredith Steele the figure has long been a primary focus in her work. She has always had an interest in painting people whom she might see everyday during daily activities like a trip to the grocery store. In her figurative paintings, such as those presented in her exhibition Figure Studies, Steele is not necessarily attempting to comment on the personality of those represented in her portraits, but rather is hoping to capture the energy of the subject while maintaining an accurate description of his or her likeness.
To create her works Steele employs blocks of observed and invented color to describe the planes, the reflected color, and the subtle transparency of skin. She often chooses high intensity hues and utilizes expressive and fluid brushwork to bring her subjects to life.
Born in Charlotte, NC, Steele received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah, GA, and her Master of Fine Arts Degree from Winthrop University, Rock Hill, SC. She was an art educator at the secondary and college levels for ten years. Steele has been the recipient of the Regional Artist Project Grant from the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County and a William C. Friday Summer Fellowship. She lives and works in Raleigh with her husband, daughter, dog, and cat.
Ashley Lathe
Ashley Lathe has taken an immediate approach to the development of image, meaning, and materials in his new works. To create the works in the Big River series, Lathe builds layers of hard-edge brushstrokes on paper. The brushstrokes are not a continuous line along the surface, but rather a series of short, broken lines. The marks flow and curl across the paper like water over land hence the title of the series. The strokes come together and divide in their course across the surface. Their collective path creates what Lathe views as monolithic forms; archetypes, stolid, and ambiguous, occupying real space as forms on paper suspended without the confines of a frame. Lathe compares the path of the lines to the grand profile of their somber character, like the myth of the river in American lore.
A native of North Carolina, Lathe began his art career via the commercial arts. Graduating in 1992 from East Carolina University with a BA in Graphic Design and Illustration, he worked for several years in web design and marketing. Following completion of post-baccalaureate classes at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he taught art classes at the university level. In 2002, he made the final leap to full-time artist. Currently his work focuses on the ability of watercolor to create and capture the subtle nature of change as landscape and metaphorical abstraction.
Artspace, a thriving visual art center located
in downtown Raleigh, brings the creative process to life through
inspiring and engaging education and community outreach programming,
a dynamic environment of over 30 professional artists studios,
and nationally acclaimed exhibitions. Approximately 95 artists
hold professional memberships in the Artspace Artists Association.
Thirty-five of these artists have studios located at Artspace.
Guided tours are available. Artspace is located in Historic City
Market in Raleigh at the corner of Blount and Davie Streets.
Artspace is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, the
United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, the Raleigh Arts
Commission, individuals, corporations, and private foundations.
For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery
listings, call the center at 919/821-2787 or at (www.artspacenc.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 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© 2008 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.