December 2011

Artspace in Raleigh, NC, Features Four New Exhibits

Artspace in Raleigh, NC, is presenting four new exhibits including: Material Instinct featuring works by Aditya Shringarpure, on view in the Upfront Gallery from Dec. 2 - 31, 2011; Water & Light, featuring works by Tricia McKellar will be on view in the Lobby Gallery from Dec. 2 - 31, 2011; Presence, featuring works by Cynthia Farnell will be on view in Gallery Two, from Dec. 2 through Jan. 28, 2012; and Marked, featuring the work of Kiki Farish, Carolyn Nelson, and Lisa Stroud, curated by Catherine Coulter Lloyd, Visual Arts Specialist, Maria V. Howard Arts Center in Rocky Mount, NC, on view in Gallery One, through Jan. 14, 2012. A reception for all four exhibits will be held on Dec. 2, from 6-10pm, during Raleigh’s First Friday Gallery Walk

Material Instinct features recent works by Aditya Shringarpure. He notes, “I find myself synthesizing images from memories into themes of urban decay, renewal, and everyday life. I am always attempting to find a pathway to incorporate these ideas into my work, bridging the gap between traditional and contemporary art.”

Growing up in the city of Bombay, urban landscapes remain an inspiration and a fascination for Shringarpure. A focus on more minimal and sparse compositions represents a departure from the nature of the city, but the city remains integral to his theme. The exhibit attempts to reflect these nuances. Creating his own visual language, combining his interests in photography, printmaking, and drawing, Shringarpure creates paintings that reflect both abstraction and realism. His final works develop around photographic images he takes himself. The images are incorporated directly into the paintings through drawing or transfer processes. Shringarpure then applies layers of paint, ink, oil pastel, and graphite until the work reaches a desired composition and texture.

Shringarpure was born in 1978 in Bombay, India. He is a mixed media artist and his focus is on urban decay, renewal, and architecture. He has a BS degree in Telecommunications from the University of Bombay and a Masters degree in Computer Engineering from NC State University. His works have appeared in various exhibits and galleries including the Giacobetti Paul Gallery, Brooklyn, NY; Lee Hansley Gallery, Block Gallery, Gallery ‘A’, and Flanders Gallery in Raleigh, NC; the Durham Art Guild in Durham, NC; and FRANK Gallery in Chapel Hill, NC. A member of the Artspace Artists Association, Shringarpure currently lives and works in Brooklyn, NY and is an active member of Madarts.org, an arts collective.

“Water and light in the Southern landscape provide an endless muse for the camera.” Oceans, lakes, and streams offer a constantly changing play of light. In this set of monochromatic photographs, Tricia McKellar explores the wonder of the Southern landscape.

McKellar is a self-taught Southern photographer and artist. She has been exhibiting for five years. Her work is in the permanent collection of Duke University Hospital as well as many private collections. A non-tenant member of the Artspace Artists Association, McKellar resides in Fuquay Varina, NC.

The Presence series is a poetic interpretation of historical material that resulted from Cynthia Farnell’s interest in the photograph as a coded document embedded with cultural significance. The source images, from archives as well as Farnell’s own collection, are altered and reprinted. Working this way allows Farnell to incorporate the information embedded in the image with her own visual and emotional experiences of a place, a community, or an individual.

The body of work on view at Artspace is selected from two different series: Presence (Conway) and Presence (Veils). The Presence (Conway) images were originally conceived as part of a site-specific installation for the Lower River Warehouse, a circa 1880 building located in Conway, SC. Built as a site for river commerce, the building is still a gathering spot for the community. In the original installation, ten printed banners were distributed throughout the interior of the warehouse and a video was projected on the north wall. Presence (Veils) is a response to images of Farnell’s female ancestors and the spaces they inhabited: the home, garden, and church. The artist intermingles her family portraits with fragments of contemporary Southern landscapes as a way to link these women’s lives with her own.

An Alabama native, Farnell is a multi-disciplinary visual artist whose projects encompass a range of media including photography, video, and installation. Farnell earned her BFA from Auburn University, Auburn, AL, a Certificate of General Studies of Photography from The International Center of Photography, NYC, and her MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. Her work has been widely exhibited including throughout New England, the southern United States, NYC, and France. She has been awarded residencies at The Sloss Furnaces Visiting Artist Program, Birmingham, AL, and at the Virginia Center For Creative Arts, Amherst, VA.

Farnell’s work is in the permanent collection of the International Center of Photography and the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art. She has received grants to support her work from the South Carolina Arts Commission, The Horry County Arts and Cultural Council, Coastal Carolina University, and the Humanities Council South Carolina. Farnell is currently director of The Welch School Galleries at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA.

Every other year, Artspace works with a guest curator to develop an exhibition for Gallery 1 (otherwise reserved for non-Artspace artists) featuring the work of three Artspace Artists Association members. Applicants submit works for review and the curator narrows down the applicant pool. After making several studio visits, the curator selects three artists for exhibition. The curator for the 2011-2012 Biennial Three Person Exhibition is Catherine Coulter Lloyd. Marked, features the work of three artists: Kiki Farish, Carolyn Nelson, and Lisa Stroud.

Kiki Farish has been drawing and painting regularly since she graduated from Meredith College in 1981 with a BS in Mathematics. She left the Sales and Marketing Division of SAS Institute, Inc. in 1993 to spend more time developing her visual observation skills. Farish graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Painting and Drawing from East Carolina University in May 2006. Farish’s recent exhibitions include Earthly Musings, The Block Gallery, Raleigh, NC; A Woman’s Place, An Exhibition of Seven Women Artists Exploring their Identity, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, NC; Drawing Revisited, Green Hill Center for NC Art, Greensboro, NC; and Paul Hartley Legacy, Lee Hansley Gallery, Raleigh, NC. Farish teaches figure drawing, drawing, design, and color theory at the Art Institute of Raleigh Durham, in Durham, NC.

Carolyn Nelson is an obsessive stitcher, mother, traveler, and hoarder of scraps and thread. In 2002, she began working in shibori dye techniques and textile collage. Strongly influenced by a sense of place, light, color, energy, Nelson combines layers of transparent fabrics and handstitching to create the atmosphere and spirit of place in her work. Nelson earned degrees in art and in design from UNC-Greensboro and NC State University School of Design. She has studied at Penland School of Crafts, and is a member of Piedmont Craftsmen and Artspace. Previously, Nelson taught art in public schools as well as design at three universities in NC. She has served as the director of design at Elon University for the past 25 years.

Lisa Stroud, primarily self-taught, is a full-time artist. Her extensive background in writing heavily influences her mixed media paintings. She is always looking for the story – whether it is hers or someone else’s – to express in paint on canvas. Stroud’s work has been included in both local and national exhibitions including most recently at the Horace Williams House, Chapel Hill, NC. Stroud was a 2010 finalist in the Abstract/Experimental category of The Artist’s Magazine. Her painting, Honor, By Any Measure, was recently added to the permanent collection of the National Museum of the Marine Corps.

Artspace, a thriving visual art center located in downtown Raleigh, brings the creative process to life through inspiring and engaging education and community outreach programming, a dynamic environment of over 30 professional artists studios, and nationally acclaimed exhibitions. Approximately 95 artists hold professional memberships in the Artspace Artists Association. Thirty-five of these artists have studios located at Artspace. Artspace is located in Historic City Market in Raleigh at the corner of Blount and Davie Streets.

Artspace is supported by the North Carolina Arts Council, the United Arts Council of Raleigh and Wake County, the Raleigh Arts Commission, individuals, corporations, and private foundations.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the center at 919/821-2787 or visit (www.artspacenc.org).

[ | December 2011 | Feature Articles | Carolina Arts Unleashed | Gallery Listings | Home | ]