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January Issue
2010
Pickens County
Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC, Features Works by
April Harrison
The Pickens County Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC, is presenting the exhibit, April Harrison: Grateful, on view through Feb. 11, 2010.
A native of Greenville, SC, Harrison paints images primarily in acrylic, powder, watercolor, pencil and collage. Working with this diverse collection of media she is able to work fast, often layering numerous colors, textures and images in a single session to create her lush tapestry-like backgrounds. Found objects such as coins, specialty papers, magazine print and interesting treasures found on the street are often incorporated into her paintings. These, coupled with bits and pieces of her recycled older works, create strikingly rich textures and dimensions.
Though Harrison has received no formal training, she feels that with each new brush stroke she is guided by "the greatest Master-Teacher-Creator of all time!" She says, "One has only to look around at God's magnificently creative masterpieces and marvel at the handiwork of his hands! It is with this understanding that I'm merely a vessel being utilized to instinctively create narrative, sentiment and observation. Why I've been chosen, I know not, nonetheless, I am humbled by this gift."
About this exhibition, Harrison says, "The name of my exhibit is Grateful......It speaks to a life of faith in a God who blesses daily. It also speaks to a life of simplicity, one in which the viewer is asked to stop and meditate on the true treasures surrounding them, treasures that are eternal and not just for a little while. My hope is to cause the viewers of this exhibit to pause for a moment and thank God for the one thing we sometimes take for granted...Love & Life." She continues, "My exhibit is in homage of life itself and the God that provides said life."
Harrison has been professionally involved in the arts for nearly 20 years as an award-winning artist and illustrator. Her work has been featured at numerous venues including the Hampton University Museum in Hampton, VA, Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, GA, and the Romare Bearden Juried Invitational at Charlotte, NC's Mint Museum of Art. Her work has been published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's McDougal Littell's Literature, The Judith Roth Collection, San Francisco's Image Conscious and Doll Graphics in Louisville, KY. Her work has also been featured in Upscale, Essence and Talk magazines as well as on BET, 106 & Park.
Represented by numerous galleries such as Avisca Fine Art in Marietta, GA, International Visions in Washington, DC, ArtJaz of Philadelphia, House of Art in Brooklyn, NY and Ethnic Notions in Benicia, CA, Harrison's work has made its way into numerous collections including the Atlanta Housing Authority, Vanderbilt University and Erskine University Museum collections and high profile collections such as Whoopi Goldberg and S. Epatha Merkerson.
This exhibitions is part of the museum's 2009 - 2010 exhibition season sponsored by Pickens Savings & Loan and Upstate Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery & Dental Implant Center.
The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
The Pickens County Museum of Art & History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call the Museum
at 864/898-5963.
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