February 2014

Corrigan Gallery in Charleston, SC, Offers Works by W. Case Jernigan

Corrigan Gallery llc in Charleston, SC, will present an exhibit from Feb. 1 through Mar. 1, 2014, of new works by W. Case Jernigan, who was raised in Charleston and is now living and working in New York. A reception will be held on Feb. 7, from 5-8pm. This is the first solo show of works in Charleston for Jernigan.

We have always known Charleston was a breeding ground for artists and Jernigan is an example of this. With a MFA in painting from the New York Studio School in 2012 following a BA in Art and Art History with a minor in Classical Studies from The College of William & Mary in 2008, this young artist hit the studio working. Three solo shows in 2013 (two in New York) and participating in four group exhibitions after being in five the year before, Jernigan shows himself to be the consummate, focused artist, making works of art from his life experiences and traveling to enhance those experiences.

Works include the influence of Jernigan’s travels, maps, medieval manuscripts, and Renaissance drawings as well as abstracts of color highlighting the detailed representational references. There is a sense in viewing the works that he is referencing John Ruskin, then modern day influences take over and patches of color seem to push the words and drawings out of the way, partially obliterating them and at times taking over the space.

Jernigan has also created a set of books with his watercolor works for early readers called “The Adventuring Set” where “his themes harken from days of old with kings, inventors, knights in shining armor, and a time of discovery. In these books, young readers will invent flying machines, dive to the depths of the ocean, play games, explore strange lands, and meet intriguing characters from the past.”

Jernigan states, “I make maps of experiences, stories and places. In Tuscany, I surprised a group of wild boar in the dark. Walking through South Williamsburg I photographed an electric scrawl of graffiti on a riverside warehouse. I worked in a restaurant and heard pirate and ghost stories from early Charleston. I read Cheever and couldn’t forget a story about brothers. I lived by the ocean and watched the alligators sun themselves on the bank. I found a relic in a darkened corner of the Met. In Crete I sat near a small fountain, and in Rome I drew the city from an orange grove.”

“In my work I search for specificity but indulge the urge to cover and pour paint and ink to obscure,” adds Jernigan. “I hone in on details, small moments or pinpricks of memory, and then wash them with overarching shapes and layers. The result becomes a patchwork tapestry of images that are half-formed, in parts clear and in others stained and masked. This searching process creates maps through my memories.”

Jernigan has received a Ruth Katzman Scholarship, Art Students League, 2013, was a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant Nominee, 2012, received a Recent Graduate Residency, Brooklyn Art Space, Brooklyn, New York, July-December 2012 and the Charleston Scientific and Cultural Education Fund Scholarship, 2010 and 2011. He achieved a Grant and Residency in La Macina di San Cresci, Italy, 2010, a Salisbury Faculty Professional Development Grant, 2009 and a Vytlacil Residency, Art Students League, Sparkill, New York, in both August 2013 and July 2009.

What a wonderful mapping of the mind and the travels – human history evolving appears in these works and we get to watch the developing artist! Come support this young local on his journeys.

For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/722-9868 or visit (www.corrigangallery.com).

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