January Issue 2002
The Art Garage in Columbia, SC, Presents Exhibition on Children's Play Habits
by Jon Ives
The Art Garage in Columbia, SC's, Rosewood neighborhood, opens its sophomore exhibit Warning! Children at Play on Jan. 26. The exhibition will continue through Feb. 8, 2002.
This exhibit will explore the myth and culture that surrounds the childhood experience. The Art Garage is a new gallery parked in the warehouse district of Rosewood. Recently dubbed "SohRo" for its similarity to New York's Soho, this area is located between Owens Field Airport and the popular Rosewood neighborhood.
The premier exhibit currently showing at The Art Garage is an untitled group show that features work ranging from sculpture to conceptual installations to the more traditional formats of oil and charcoal. The success of the reception indicates that Columbia is ready for both non-traditional artwork and a non-traditional atmosphere. This exhibit will remain through Jan. 18, 2002.
As the new year approaches, Gallery Director, Rachel Gibson, turns her thoughts to upcoming shows. "After being open for only four days, our calendar is full through May 3. I never dreamed we would be so graciously welcomed by patrons and peers alike."
"Warning! Children at Play! was born out of a central theme that I recognized in the work of the artists who approached me for gallery space," says Gibson. "I noticed that whether fond or feared, whether personal or merely observant, the work often had a reflective quality that seemed both poignant and often tragic."
The doll reconstructions of Jennifer Stephens comment on the expectation placed on girls to like having tea parties and playing with dolls. The Barbie-gone-bad images suggest these dolls, and their creator, may have had a different agenda. Billy Maker's work both includes and reacts to the actual drawings of preschool children. The subject of some recent controversy, these works challenge the viewer to take the same journey as the artist.
Known for dealing with iconography and the transition from the absurd to the necessary, sculptor Bernadette Vielbig's conceptual work included in Warning! Children at Play! requires the observer to trace the path of the products and substances of the heroes back to their source revealing the heroes themselves.
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Lyon Forrest Hill
Anchoring the show are the "taintings" of Lyon Forrest Hill. These creations are the hybrid of sculpture and painting for which Hill has become known. A puppet maker by trade, Hill is often surrounded by a world of make-believe and fairytales targeted at children. It is only natural that his work would lead to the personalization found in work like oz, a recasting of the Wizard of Oz. Other works by Hill will include red riding hood and hansel & gretel.
Also on display are marionettes on loan from the Columbia Marionette Theatre. Created by Lyon Forrest Hill and Rob Padley, these marionettes are true works of art that warrant closer inspection. Toni Turbeville, the Theatre's business manager notes, "These artists go out of their way to sculpt every feature of these characters down to their knuckles and fingernails, and most patrons only see them from twenty or thirty feet away. That's a significant loss to the public that The Art Garage can fill."
Gibson, will be accepting additional artwork submissions for Warning, Children at Play through Jan. 11. Contact Gibson at The Art Garage, 803/252-4ART (4278).
Look for future shows at The Art Garage including The First Annual Automotive Show: An Exhibit Featuring The Art of the Hubcap in Mar. 2002, and "In the Gravel Yard" an outdoor sculpture show in Apr. 2002.
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings or call the gallery at 803/252-4278.
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
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E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
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