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March Issue 2010
Greenville County
Museum of Art Features Images of Greenville, SC
Accustomed to seeing works of art that depict far-flung capitols and exotic landscapes, visitors to the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, SC, will have an opportunity to see the many communities of Greenville depicted by major national and regional artists in the exhibition A Portrait of Greenville. The exhibition is on view through Sept. 26, 2010, its educational impact enhanced by a list of programs and activities that include lectures, a community day for families, and studio art workshops.
A Portrait of Greenville is the culmination of nearly twenty-five years of commissioned projects: it combines favorites by Stephen Scott Young with newly completed works by important realist painters such as Andrew Lenaghan (New York) and John Moore (Philadelphia) as well as noted Southern artists such as Edward Rice, William McCullough, and Tim Barnwell.
Lenaghan and McCullough blaze a contemporary trail with paintings of downtown Greenville. Lenaghan provides one of the key images of the exhibition in La Grande Jatte, a 5 by 8 foot painting of the Reedy River and the Greenville skyline, seen from room 623 in the Hampton Inn at River Place. It is a dramatic portrait of the glossy "new" Greenville that draws people to Main Street and the river. McCullough has created tandem works that examine future and past from a vantage point atop the Church Street parking deck at the north end of downtown. In one painting, Elford Street is a buffer between the historic Springwood Cemetery and a row of high-rise commercial buildings on Beattie Place that sprouted during the last quarter of the twentieth century.
Ed Rice
A quartet of paintings by North Augusta, SC, artist Edward Rice is likewise moored in history. Celebrated for his realist architectural works, Rice painted aspects of four churches: Christ Church Episcopal, Downtown Baptist Church, Buncombe Street United Methodist Church, and First Presbyterian Church represent the original "downtown churches" built on land donated by Vardry McBee, the mill owner regarded as the founding father of Greenville.
Asheville, NC, photographer
Tim Barnwell is acclaimed for his portraits of Appalachia, but
he spent his boyhood in Greenville, and those memories inspired
the views that he captured in Greer, Pelham, Piedmont, and Fountain
Inn, among other places. Barnwell's gelatin silver prints remind
us that Greenville is a county of nearly 800 square miles. Only
13% of its 438,000 residents live in the City of Greenville.
Philadelphian, John Moore discovered elements of his native St.
Louis during his sojourn here, as he traveled to communities like
Sans Souci and City View to research a composite portrait that
speaks with nostalgia of times past.
Surrounding these major new works are paintings, photographs, textiles, and sculptures by Susan Page, C. Thomas Wyche, Mike Mathers, Charles Blackwood, Cheryl Goldsleger, Gary Grier, Mark Mulfinger, and Darrell Koons. Two are drawn from the Metropolitan Arts Council's Greenville Seen, a collaborative exhibition that invited local artists to add to this wealth of work depicting the community. Melissa Anderson's 2009 painting, Monaghan, and Owen Riley's 2009 photograph, Greenville Landscape #1, are included in this exhibition.
The 25th annual Museum Antiques Show will be raising money to help fund the cost of several works in the exhibition. Scheduled for Oct. 1517, 2010, the Antiques Show recognizes contributions by businesses and individuals and benefits the Museum's collection.
A Portrait of Greenville will be on view through Sept. 26, 2010, and programs related to the exhibition will stretch into the summer. Contact the Museum for a full list of offerings.
For further info
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Museum at
864/271-7570 or visit (www.greenvillemuseum.org).
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