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January Issue
2009
Art League Gallery
of Hilton Head on Hilton Head Island, SC, Features Works by Art
Trio
The Art League Gallery of Hilton Head will present the exhibit, Expressive Journeys, featuring paintings and collages by Cindy Chiappetta, Jeanie Hooper, and Vickie Jourdan, at the Art League Gallery in Pineland Station on Hilton Head Island, SC. The exhibition begins Jan. 13 and continues through Feb. 6, 2009.
Cynthia Chiappetta's work is an exploration of abstract ideas, concepts and opinions concerning the human condition. She delves into her subjects researching ideas while experimenting with visual presentation. She says: "The dreaded blank canvas is never a problem for me; I love the first mark or splash of paint. Beginnings hold so much promise!"
Chiappetta's current body of work sprung from a small book of maps real and imagined, current and ancient. Come to think of it, a map is a thing of beauty: It represents a moment in time when we believe we know where we have been and where we are going. Until the late 18th century, maps were never meant to give directions, so much as to present a place and often present certain spiritual truths. Sometimes maps were just decorative propaganda, statements of pride in the place they described. Chiappetta adds, "Now I see them slipping into antiquity as GPS devices take over physical guidance from point A to point B so I celebrate them in this series." Perhaps some day the map will return to its place in history as an ornate presentation of place, rather than just a series of directions. What a surprising glimpse into history revealing new meaning behind the "glove compartment map" we have long taken for granted!
Vickie Jourdan is an artist who emerged from a very successful career in interior design. In the past ten years she has attended workshops in watercolor, pastel, oil, mixed media and collage in order to pursue her talent for creative art. Jourdan's art work has evolved over the years and she continues to experiment with acrylics, gel mediums, gesso and papers creating unique compositions of color and texture.
Jourdan's application of color is fleeting or dense as we see in the work, Wish You Were Here. There are bold patches surrounded by dematerializing softness or textured areas. In the series Some Like It Hot, strong colors are set in contrast to each other to enhance each other; the sizzling-hot composition in the center is embedded in calming creme and eggshell tones; they create a varying push and pull of foreground and background. Some viewers feel abstract works are "easy," Ñü to the contrary! To succeed in capturing and engaging the viewer without a narrative, by pure interplay of color and textural elements, that is the true challenge! Words don't do justice to these works they are a must-see!
Jeanie Hooper
Jeanie Hooper creates
layered collages on canvas and paper. Her works are organic and
textural and often inspired by nature. She feels visually sensitive
to designs in life many people never notice. Hooper admits, "Wanting
to be original in my efforts, I rely on my intuition of what 'feels
right'. I often lose myself in the process of play, and then redefine
and organize the image until satisfied."
Hooper became interested in floral images while taking a botany
class, as shown in the collages Mum and Marsh Grass III.
The latter displays how she enjoys working with the shapes of
pods, grasses, ferns, and flowers in a layered composition of
stained papers and paint. Hooper incorporates her handmade papers,
as well as palm fronds and other collected natural elements in
her collage work. In Travel Texture, organic forms show
contours that abut to woven grids or dense horizontal lines
an intriguing composition that optically recedes and protrudes
in the picture plain. She enjoys creating her pictorial elements
by staining her own papers and manipulating collected papers.
Hooper sometimes stamps the work with her own handmade stamps
to add complexity.
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the gallery
at 843/681-5060 or visit (www.artleaguehhi.org).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2009 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© 2009 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.