March 2011

Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, NC, Offers New Exhibits

The Waterworks Visual Arts Center in Salisbury, NC, is offering new Spring exhibitions under the heading, Multiplicity, on view through May 12, 2012. The exhibitions include: two solo exhibitions, Structure vs. Spontaneity, featuring works by David M. Kessler (Winston-Salem, NC) and Reaction, featuring works by Juie Rattley III (Kernersville, NC). A group show featuring works by twenty-two artists from Artworks Gallery in Winston-Salem, NC, explores multiple connections through works in multiple mediums. The exhibition also features, Celebrating Rowan County’s Young Artists, a rotating exhibition showcasing artwork from Salisbury-Rowan County’s public, independent, and home-schooled students.

David M. Kessler is an award-winning contemporary artist working in both watercolors and acrylic media. His paintings are marked by bright colors, bold compositions, dynamic movement, and expressive brushwork.

Kessler states, “To create these lively abstract compositions, I approach the canvas with an open mind and no pre-conceived ideas of what will develop. Armed only with the design elements of line, shape, color, value, and texture, I apply paint quickly with intuition and spontaneity.”

While at Virginia Tech, Kessler studied under renowned artist Ray Kass. After graduating magna cum laude from the College of Architecture at UNC-Charlotte, he continued designing compositions, studying art, and drawing. Kessler credits his success to mentoring during workshops by internationally known artist Sterling Edwards. Seeking another challenge, he studied the work of Jackson Pollack, Willem DeKooning, Hans Hoffman, and Franz Kline, which led him to explore acrylic paints.

In Structure vs Spontaneity Kessler enjoys the interplay and contrast they produce. As an architect, he understands that structure forms the framework that supports a building. As an artist, he understands that a painting needs structure created by the design elements to form the framework that supports the painting. David has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions and his award-winning paintings are found in corporate and private collections in North Carolina and throughout the United States.

Juie Rattley III’s creative and expressive body of work features self portraits, figure paintings, and landscapes. His art process involves applying residual washes to the canvas. The painting surfaces are then scraped, scratched, and sanded back down to the visibility of raw canvas, and then rebuilt. The rough and raw treatments illuminate through the finished surfaces of his work.

Rattley’s artwork provides him with a wide variety of opportunities to present his perception of the way he sees things. Through a series of self-portraits, he shows expressions of anger, resignation, and sadness in response to losing a childhood friend to gun violence in a home invasion. To preserve the idea of patience and emotion in his figure paintings, he reveals each person’s gesture correctly to capture their unique personality.

Rattley received his BFA from UNC-Pembroke. While there, he studied with Tarleton Blackwell and adopted Blackwell’s methods and style. He received his MFA from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where he was awarded the prestigious Adelaide Fortune Holderness Fellowship.

Rattley teaches art at Winston-Salem State University and summer youth art camps. His work has been exhibited in galleries across the East Coast and has been featured in numerous publications locally and regionally.

Twenty two artists from Artworks Gallery will present their unique artwork in a group show. Artworks Gallery is an artist-run cooperative gallery located in Winston-Salem, NC’s downtown arts district. The Gallery is committed to offering local artists of all media a creative and responsive environment in which to exhibit and sell their work. They provide increased exposure for each artist member’s work, networking with other artists, and an opportunity for the members to learn skills involved in running a gallery. They offer individual and group exhibitions of member artists’ works every five to six weeks throughout the year.

Exhibiting artists include Mary Blackwell-Chapman, Alan Calhoun, Faye Collins, Nelida Otero Flatow, Chris Flory, Jim Gemma, Don Green, Nancy Hayes, E. O. (Ted) Hill, Alix Hitchcock, Nanu LaRosee, Lea Lackey-Zachmann, Emily Drew Mash, Jeremiah Miller, Beverly Noyes, Betti Pettinati Longinotti, Mitzi Shewmake, Anne Kesler Shields, Lucy Spencer, Cindy Taplin, Kim Varnadoe, and Mona Wu.

Also on view at Waterworks is the exhibit, Celebrating Rowan County’s Young Artists. Now in its 29th year, this display of artwork features the works of nearly 800 students representing Salisbury-Rowan County’s public, independent, and home-schooled students. These exhibitions celebrate both the outstanding efforts of the art specialists who teach the creative process and the extraordinary talents of our county’s youth. A reception to honor the students and their families, the art specialists, and school administrators are held during each exhibition rotation.

The exhibition schedule is: Through Mar. 8 - Independent and home-schools, reception Mar. 1, 5-6:30pm; Mar. 10 – 29 - Rowan-Salisbury Elementary Schools, reception Mar. 22, 5-6:30pm; Mar. 31 – Apr. 19 - Rowan-Salisbury Middle Schools, reception Apr. 5, 5-6:30pm; and Apr. 21 – May 12 - Rowan-Salisbury High Schools, reception May 3, 5-6:30pm.

The Presenting Art Partner for Multiplicity is Susan and Edward Norvell.

Waterworks Visual Arts Center is accredited by the American Association of Museums.

For further information check our NC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Center at 704/636-1882 or visit (www.waterworks.org).

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