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January Issue
2011
USC in Columbia, SC, Offers Works by
Alumni Artists
The University of South Carolina in
Columbia, SC, will present, Alumni Exhibition, on view
in McMaster Gallery in the Department of Art from Jan. 10 through
Feb. 19, 2011. McMaster Gallery is located at 1615 Senate Street,
Columbia, SC.
The exhibition will feature works by 12 outstanding artists ranging
from recent graduates to several who have been working professionally
for many years. Their academic experiences at USC span three decades:
Jill Allen (MFA 2005), Jim Arendt (MFA 2004), Morgan Ford (BFA
2006), Jonathan Goley (BFA 2005), James Henderson (MMA 2001) Tom
Lockhart (BA 1991), Scott Peek (MFA 2000), Kevin Pena (BFA 2005),
Billy Renkl (MFA 1988), Adam Shiverdecker (MFA 2008), Lee Swallie
(BFA 2008), Mark Woodham (BA 1991). The work in the exhibition
represents a variety of disciplines including printmaking, painting,
photography, drawing, new media, sculpture and film.
Jill Allen is a studio artist working and teaching in Philadelphia,
PA. Her sculptural pieces reference her interests in the mysteries
of "other worlds," such as the nano-world, the galaxy,
and the world of science fiction. Allen has exhibited her work
both nationally and internationally, and holds a BFA from the
University of Illinois in Champaign/Urbana, and an MFA from the
University of South Carolina in Columbia. Allen's work has been
featured in the Ceramic Glaze Handbook by Mark Burleson, Handbuilt
Tableware by Kathy Triplett, and Handbuilding by Shay Amber.
Jim Arendt works at SC State University managing the Fine Arts
Department's contemporary exhibition space, FAB Gallery. Born
during the waning years of the Carter administration and surviving
both the Farm Crisis and Farm Aid, he struck off to remake the
world in his own image, torpedoes be damned.
Morgan M. Ford, a South Carolina native, is a visual artist specializing
in photography and book arts. She currently teaches photography
and is Gallery Director of the Shircliff Gallery of Art at Vincennes
University in Vincennes, IN. Morgan received a BFA from the University
of South Carolina in Columbia, SC and a MFA in photography from
Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX. Currently, her work explores
themes dealing with the association of memories with objects,
as well as themes of social concerns and women's self-image.
Jonathan Goley was first exposed to the magic of darkroom photography
in high school. His initial amazement quickly grew into dreams
of a career. During his years of roaming the halls of McMaster,
he learned the craft, exploring several different formats and
methods but was never satisfied. After graduating in 2005 with
a BFA, Goley began transitioning to digital photography, but soon
realized it removed too much of the hands-on craftsmanship of
analog photography. So he regressed about 150 years and began
to study the wet plate collodion process in 2007. Pleased with
the aesthetic and the even greater magical allure, he began mixing
chemistry and soon began exposing plates. His work in the process
continues to carry a theme of environmentalism, which developed
initially during his later years at USC. Goley is currently employed
by the Columbia Museum of Art.
Scotty Peek received his BFA from Austin Peay State University
(1995) and his MFA from the University of South Carolina (2000).
Peek worked for eight years in museums and galleries in SC, including
McKissick Museum, Columbia Museum of Art and Sumter County Gallery
of Art before accepting a faculty position at South Carolina State
University in Orangeburg, SC, where he currently teaches all levels
of Photography. His artwork is included in many personal and public
collections, including the USC Library, the County of Sumter,
SCANA Corporation, and Holder Properties' Meridian Building in
downtown Columbia SC. Peek's work was included in the 2004
Triennial Exhibition at the SC State Museum and the Four-Person
2008 Inaugural Exhibition of the 701 Center for Contemporary Art,
both in Columbia, SC.
Billy Renkl grew up in Birmingham, AL. He attended Auburn University
and the University of South Carolina, where he received an MFA
in Drawing. He currently teaches drawing and illustration at Austin
Peay State University in Clarksville, TN.
Renkl's work has been featured in many solo and group exhibitions,
including solo shows at The Cumberland Gallery in Nashville, Taylor
Bercier Fine Arts in New Orleans, Vanderbilt University, The University
of Alabama, The University of Kentucky, The Tennessee Arts Commission,
and the Galerie Neue Raume, Berlin, Germany. He is represented
in some permanent collections, including The University of Alabama
at Birmingham, Kiwanis Club International, The Tennessee State
Museum, and The College of Notre Dame, Baltimore.
Renkl's collage work often features fragments of old texts and
diagrams, exploring the relationship that fine art has to information
graphics, as well as the nostalgia inherent in paper ephemera.
Adam Shiverdecker is a Visiting Artist and the Area Head of Ceramics
at the University of West Florida, in Pensacola, FL. In 2009,
he was the Artist-In-Residence at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia
and a summer resident at The Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic
Arts in Helena, Montana. His international experience includes
working as an artists' assistant at FuLe International Ceramic
Art Museum in Fuping, China and as a Visiting Researcher at Australian
National University in Canberra, Australia. Adam was recently
named an Emerging Artist by Ceramics Monthly.
Lee Swallie earned his BFA from the University of South Carolina
in 2008, he currently works from his studio in Lexington, SC,
and shows throughout the Southeast.
Tom Lockart and Mark Woodham started their business in 1991, after
graduating from the University of South Carolina's art department,
One Eared Cow Glass.
Glass became the artistic outlet for Lockart and Woodham who wanted
to further their skills and interests in molten glass.
Since its beginning, One Eared Cow Glass, Inc. has offered exceptional
quality and originality in the art of hand blown glass. Each piece
is individually hand crafted by the artists without the use of
moulds or forms as seen in the more common production style methods
of glass blowing. Various learned and self-discovered techniques
are used to achieve the colorful and stunning works of art which
are owned and admired by their customers all over the world. With
a combined talent of over 40 years, the artists have the abilities
and knowledge to make most anything that they or their customers
can dream of.
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery
listings, contact Mana Hewitt, Gallery Director at 803/777-7480
or e-mail to (mana@sc.edu).
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