November 2011

Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg Offers Works by Robert M. Urban

The Artists’ Guild of Spartanburg will present the exhibit, In Coordination with the Landscape: New Work by Robert M. Urban, on view in the Guild Gallery at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, SC, from Nov. 1 - 26, 2011. A reception will be held on Nov. 17, from 6-8pm.

Urban is a mixed media artist who depicts the landscape in a contemporary approach through his use of a variety of art materials and montage. He is directly inspired by his immediate surroundings as viewed by him via a run, hike, river excursion, or bicycle ride. Much of the new work on view in this exhibit is a result of his enjoyment of long bicycle rides throughout Upstate South Carolina, and these rides inspired the title of the exhibit, In Coordination with the Landscape.

Both the artworks and the processes Urban uses to create them are a reflection of the landscape itself. In his paintings, Urban builds up the works over time through many layers of transparent color; specific areas will be sanded, scraped, and rubbed to reveal layers underneath. This tends to create a worn and weathered look. “By creating an image and then destroying all or part of it, my intention is to have my art work reflect what happens in our natural environment, either directly or indirectly as a result of human interaction or just the passage of time,” said Urban.

Urban has exhibited his artwork throughout the Southeast. His work is in numerous private collections. Earlier this year Urban had his artwork selected for publication in Art Buzz: The 2011 Collection. Urban is also one of the artists who will be featured in the book Artists Among Us, which is scheduled for release on the same day as this exhibit’s reception, Nov. 17. The artist will have copies of the book available for sale the night of the reception, as well as prints of Urban’s artwork, A Just Cause, that appears in the book.

Urban plans to donate 10 percent of all sales of his art during the exhibit to the Spartanburg Area Conservancy (SPACE), a non-profit land conservation group whose purpose is to protect and preserve natural areas in Spartanburg County.

Urban is a graduate of the art department of the University of South Carolina, and has taught art at the secondary level for the past 19 years, including the last 14 years at Dorman High School.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call Robin H Els at 864/764-9568 or visit (www.artistsguildofspartanburg.com).

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