Feature Articles

May Issue 2001

Visual Art Offerings During the Spoleto Festival Time Frame

by Tom Starland, facts, fiction, and a little commentary - OK a lot of commentary

Well, here we go again, my informal guide to what's happenin' - or not - in the Charleston visual arts scene during the time of the Spoleto Festival USA. I'm not going to mention details - those can be found in other sections of this paper - some in press releases, in our gallery listings and in advertisements. It's not an endorsement. It's not all inclusive. It's a little history, a reflection of those who made an effort, and commentary - all mixed up.

It's another Spoleto - the 25th Festival in the US - and the folks at Spoleto are presenting their biggest visual arts package ever and it's all a bunch of crap.

There you go - facts, fiction, and a little commentary - all in one sentence.

That's right, Charleston's visual art community has been waiting for the "world's most comprehensive arts festival" to deliver some parity, as far as the visual arts go, and on the 25th anniversary of the Festival, they present Evoking History: Listening Across Cultures and Communities, a project which matches artist Lonnie Graham and students at Fraser Elementary for two years - to make each other feel connected. That's the Festival's contribution to the visual arts this year. It's no joke and there is no announced exhibition.

What about the Frank Stella exhibition at the Gibbes Museum of Art? Well, those who can read between the lines know that's just the Festival borrowing the Gibbes exhibition as their visual arts offering. It isn't the first time. The Gibbes gets publicity for their exhibition in trade. Of course if you think five lines in an eleven page press release is publicity - it's not much of a trade. Of course, then there's the Official Spoleto Poster - that might get people lining up at the Gibbes.

Does this make the Frank Stella exhibition less wonderful by being a "fake" Spoleto effort? Not one bit. It should make it more attractive to the public. FRANK STELLA: Imaginary Landscapes will be on view at the Gibbes Museum of Art through July 29. The exhibition features more than 30 original and technically complex prints from the 1970s to the present, including images reminiscent of exotic birds and imaginary places. For folks who haven't been down south before, the Gibbes will also be displaying many works of southern art from its permanent collection - something you won't see at the museums in your area.

What about Piccolo Spoleto - the other festival? The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs (OCA) is featuring sixteen separate exhibitions and visual arts events during Piccolo Spoleto. The exhibitions are listed in the order presented by OCA with no particular order of importance.

Bea Aaronson
Bea Aaronson Invitational Exhibition - Aaronson Studio, 356 1/2 King Street, May 20 through June 10. Entitled The Eye Listens, this exhibit features new works of mixed media by the 2001 Piccolo Spoleto poster artist. Aaronson is a self-taught multimedia artist, art critic, performer, award-winning poet, published author, independent scholar and lecturer.

The Entropy Show - Elan Gallery, 39 Broad Street, May 26 through June 10. Peek behind the curtain with artists Kevin Harrison, John Duckworth and Bea Aaronson as they fan the flames of controversy surrounding contemporary art. (I didn't know there was a controversy about contemporary art, or are they just wishing?)

NSK: Retro-Spection - Halsey Gallery, Simons Center, College of Charleston, May 11 through June 9. NSK: Retro-Spection furnishes a unique opportunity to view works by a contemporary artistic group from Eastern Europe, the artistic collective from Slovenia, Neue Slowenische Kunst (NKS). Although exhibited in Europe, NSK's work has rarely been seen in the United States. (See article on page 42. Artists - check your ego at the door.)

In conjunction with the exhibition a public showing of the film, NSK - Predictions of Fire, will be shown on Wed., May 23, 5pm, at the Simons Center, Room 309. A panel discussion with members of NSK will take place, Fri., May 25, 4pm, at the Halsey Gallery. Both events are free and open to the public.

In The Spirit - Circular Congregational Church, 150 Meeting Street, May 25 through June 10. An exhibit of spiritual works by the artists of Circular Congregational Church. More than 200 years after the founding of the church, the artists of this congregation gather to celebrate their faith through their artistic vision and share it with others.

Livio Orazio Valentini Invitational Exhibition - City Gallery, Dock Street Theatre, 133 Church Street, May 23 through June 10. View an enticing display of sculptures and paintings by a venerated pioneer in the field of contemporary art. Valentini is an Italian master, in the Italian tradition, but at the same time, he is a Modernist as evidenced by the abstract elements in his designs.

Lucia Johnson Exhibition - The Saul Alexander Gallery, Charleston County Public Library, 68 Calhoun Street, May 16 through June 30. Feeling the paintbrushes reduced her level of spontaneity, Johnson makes use of such tools as Popsicle sticks and butter knives to manipulate acrylics. She employs a variety of techniques, enabling her to portray people with the vitality she feels that is apparent in all of us.

Memory and Oblivion: Visual Interpretations of the African Slave Castle of the Coasts - Avery Research Center, 125 Bull Street, College of Charleston campus, May 24 through Sept. 15. An exhibition of photography, sculpture and mixed-media by artist Marianetta Porter that aspires to reclaim traditions of the past while highlighting contemporary approaches, expressions and styles of modern life.

Nance Lee Sneddon: Evolution of Passion - Footlight Player's Theatre, 20 Queen Street, May 25 through June 10. Evolution of Passion is a private artist's collection reflecting Nance's personal evolution as a painter. Although the work in this collection is electric, the theme remains the same. The connectedness of life, the recycling of elements into new life forms with colors and shapes keeps inspiring the artist to paint as she does.

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Art Show - Washington Square, corner of Meeting and Broad Streets, May 25 through June 3. Featuring works by award winning South Carolina artists in a beautiful outdoor setting. Free demonstrations each day and all artwork is for sale. (Hopefully this group will return to Marion Square next year, which will give more artists an opportunity to participate. Last year, this show cost Billie Sumner, one of the show's coordinators, her Chalmer Street gallery. The ogres of Chalmer Street can't stand to look at artists across the street from them - the next thing Sumner knows she out of her gallery. Talk about tough art critics. Sumner is now happy in her new Mt. Pleasant gallery. See page 42 for details on the demonstrations.)

Piccolo Spoleto Outdoor Crafts Fairs - Wragg Square Park, Meeting and Charlotte Streets, one block from the Charleston Visitors Center, May 25-27 & June 1-3. Admission: $2 Adults, $1 Seniors and Children 10-17; Children under 10 free. Crafts demonstrations by exhibiting artists each hour, daily. Artists and artisans represent areas across the United States and the media presented ranges from traditional to contemporary expressions. (This is a major craft show, a major event for craft lovers of the Lowcountry - organized by Charleston Crafts, our everyday treasure.)

Patricia O. Carter Exhibition - City HaIl, 80 Broad Street, May 25 through June 9. This exhibition was established in 1998 to showcase artwork of physically challenged artists in the Lowcountry region. This year's feature artists are Joan Brown and Paul Genet. The exhibition is named in honor of the late Patricia O. Carter, a painter from the Lowcountry, who lost her heroic thirty-year battle with Systemic Lupus Erythematonos in July 1998. The exhibit is co-sponsored by the Charleston Artist Guild.

Piccolo Spoleto Juried Contemporary Art Exhibition - Old City Jail, corner of Franklin and Magazine Streets, May 19 through June 9. (Special Thanks to the School of Building Arts.) The exhibition was produced by Print Studio South. Print Studio South and the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents the talent and diversity of South Carolina's non-traditional, cutting edge contemporary artists in a juried exhibit, entitled The Missing World. Art in all media will be exhibited inside and on the grounds of the historic structure of the Old City Jail. (More details on page 42.)

Powerhouses - Theatre 99 Lobby, 30 Cumberland Street, May 25 through June 10. Powerhouses is a collaboration between visual artists Arnold Edmondson of Charleston, SC, Diana Duncan Holmes of Cincinnati, OH, with text by poet Timothy Riordan, also from Cincinnati. The nine large-scale pieces include photographs by Holmes of black churches in the Charleston area, which Edmondson has worked into his painting constructions. Riordan's text talks about the trio's meanderings while photographing these churches, with a related theme about Arnold, a Charleston native, and his many stories spun in a stream-of-consciousness style.

Recent Existential Works - William McDougal and Michael Petrovich - 42 Broad Street, third floor, May 26 through June 10. William McDougal and Michael Petrovich present an exhibition of contemporary abstract and figurative expressionism in this new show. McDougal is showing large format digital photographic images and lithographs of his drawings, and Petrovich is exhibiting abstract paintings, Polaroids and photographs.

Billie Sumner Invitational Exhibition - A Window to Spoleto: Billie Sumner Celebrates 25 Years of Spoleto in Charleston - Dock Street Theatre, Drawing Room, second floor, 135 Church Street, May 23 through June 10. Billie Sumner's painting, Rising Stars, was selected last year for the first dedicated poster to honor the Spotlight Chamber Music Series. In continuing that theme, Sumner was commissioned to do a poster once again for this year's Piccolo Spoleto Spotlight Chamber Music Series which will be on display The exhibition bears the title of this year's Spotlight Chamber poster image.

Public Art Panel Discussion: Creating a Sense of Community and Place in the Old Charles Towne District - Charles Towne Landing State Historic Site Theatre, 1500 Old Towne Road, Thurs., May 31, 7pm. The Old Charles Towne District Task Force, in conjunction with Piccolo Spoleto, will conduct a panel discussion about potential public art projects and monuments in Charleston's West Ashley neighborhoods. Panel members, including national and local experts on public art, will discuss the potential of public art along Hwy. 7 (Sam Rittenburg Boulevard). Public art illustrations will be on display from neighborhood elementary students.

A non-event worth mentioning is that the old LOCUS Center for Contemporary Art, which last year changed its name to the Charleston Center for Contemporary Art, will present no exhibition this year - much like last year. I hope this puts to rest the myth that this group was doing anything for the contemporary arts in Charleston and that some effort can be started anew toward creating a real center for contemporary art in Charleston - I'm talking about a physical space where exhibitions can take place more than once a year. I'm talking about a space than can represent all visual artists in the area, in a non-commercial setting. I'm talking about developing a space where everyone can take part in the - planning, funding, building, and supporting of. It can't happen without everyone in the entire visual art community working together - it won't happen any other way.

Before we leave the non-profit sector of the visual arts, it's worth mentioning several non-Spoleto events taking place. First there is the annual North Charleston Arts Festival, taking place May 4 - 14, at various locations around North Charleston. Several exhibitions will be presented as part of The Main Event, which takes place at the North Charleston Performing Arts & Convention Center Complex on May 5 & 6. The first and annual South Carolina Palmetto Hands exhibition is a statewide juried crafts exhibition designed to be a showcase for SC's craft artists. This show is co-sponsored by the SC Artisan Center in Walterboro, SC. The Main Event also presents the annual Adult and Youth Juried Exhibitions, as well as an annual Photography Exhibition.

Up I-26 in Summerville, SC, the annual Sculpture in the South exhibition will take place in Summerville's Azalea Park, May 19 & 20. The exhibition and sale of sculpture from around the US brings sculpture and sculptors to the Lowcountry in an effort to build a collection of sculpture for the Summerville area. Two works have already been purchased and installed and a third is in the process.

Before we move on to the commercial sector, I'll spend a few lines on the unknown. Between the time I am writing this and the beginning of the Festival, a few surprise exhibitions will pop up. I say surprise, but I mean unannounced. These are the people who always cry about not getting recognition, but make no effort, beyond a last-minute effort, to announce their exhibitions. Sometimes the effort equals the presentation and sometimes it doesn't and a lot of people miss a good exhibition, just because someone couldn't plan ahead. I always say, "It's not worth having an exhibition if you're not going to publicize it." So keep a close eye and ear out for the unknown - it just could be worth your last minute effort - or not.

Something worth keeping an eye on or your web browser tuned in to is (www.osmosispainters.com). The web site is home to the Osmosis Painters Group, composed of artists from the Midlands of SC. They may be having an exhibition in Charleston during the Festival if the building they are planning on using doesn't get rented from underneath them. Charleston real estate is very tricky at times. Either way they will present works on the Internet. The group has gained a solid reputation for past exhibitions. I hope they are part of the Spoleto visual arts in Charleston.

OK, now for the commercial sector of our Spoleto visual art offerings. First, we'll start with the changes which have taken place since the last Festival. For one thing, more gallery owners are listening to stock market reports than ever before - so are the artists. I have the feeling if the Dow hits 11,000 by the time Spoleto starts some will be dancing in the streets with many of the performers.

One of the changes which is still hard to get over is the fact that we no longer have a Jerald Melberg Gallery in Charleston. This is an opportune time to mention the gallery's departure since Spoleto was partly responsible. The Melberg Gallery offered Spoleto a major Dale Chihuly installation exhibition, on a platter, and the Festival flatly turned it down. I'd leave town after that experience too. I can now admit that I was very wrong in promoting the return of Nigel Redden when he was fired. Perhaps he knows how to keep the Festival in the black, but he's no friend of the visual arts. I can only imagine Jerald Melberg's frustrations in dealing with the powers that be in Charleston. My own frustrations have led to a hate/love relationship with Charleston.

We've lost a few other galleries besides Melberg's - New Life Gallery, Palmetto Arts, Unity Gallery, and Grayscale - and a few more may close their doors if they don't have a good Spoleto. The Festival seems to be a hold out date for galleries - the other date is Christmas. But, while some galleries close, others open their doors.

New galleries since last Spoleto are: All Art Gallery, Artizom Gallery, Caroline Blake Gallery, The Hamlet Gallery, Knight Gallery, Spencer Art Gallery, Terry Katz Gallery, Tiemaker's Gallery, Richard James Galleries, Patricia Madison Lusk Gallery, and the Smith-Killian Fine Art. Charleston is still in a growth pattern and many new galleries have opened in Mt. Pleasant, including: Dana Coleman Art Gallery, Fine Art Collections, One of a Kind Art & Fine Craft Gallery, and The Art Works Collection.

Susan Filley will reopen ClayWorks Studio & Gallery on May 15 in a new expanded space at 285 Meeting Street (the old Jack Alterman photo studio and lab), while Gallery 2 Queen has gone back to using the name Marty Whaley Adams Gallery. They are located at 2 Queen Street (the old Art Thomas Gallery location). Marty Whaley Adams has also joined up with Paige Hathaway Thorn. And, finally in the "change" category, Courtyard Art Gallery has moved from King Street to 149 East Bay Street (former home of Unity Gallery) in the heart of the French Quarter District.

Speaking of the French Quarter group, they will be having their annual ART WALK May 4 - the traditional first Friday in May - one of three which take place the first Friday in May, Oct. and Dec. And, when we mention the FQ group we must diplomatically mention the Charleston Fine Art Dealer's Association (CFADA). This group has recently added two new members - Bernie Horton Gallery and Margaret Petterson Studio/Gallery, now making their membership ten - in association with the Gibbes Museum of Art.

At this point it is worth mentioning that the Gibbes Museum of Art is "commercial gallery friendly" - a point not often taken by higher art institutions. Not many communities see their local art museum's director and staff members at commercial gallery functions. Hats off to Paul Figueroa and his staff at the Gibbes. Perhaps association and familiarity is better than looking down your nose at the rest of the art community - for both parties.

OK, the exhibition offerings, in alphabetical order, look for details in our gallery listings.

Blink! will be offering New Works, by Leslie Pratt-Thomas. Coleman Fine Art will offer, Fresh Perspectives, an exhibition of plein-air oils on canvas by impressionist, Jan Pawlowski, who is currently painting on the streets of Charleston as I write. Don't forget to check out Mary Whyte's work at Coleman while you're there. Eva Carter Gallery will present, River Passion and Dreams, featuring new abstract works by Eva Carter. These works are the first results of moving her studio out to Wadmalaw Island, one of SC's coastal sea islands.

Mickey Williams Studio/Gallery will present, Under Carolina Skies, an exhibition of oil paintings by Mickey Williams. Nina Liu and Friends will host, Obvious Exhibitionism, featuring paper works by Jocelyn Chateauvert and furniture by David Ross Puls - working in collaboration with each other. Smith-Killian Fine Art will present an exhibition of paintings by Shannon Smith entitled, Subtleties of Light. Smith has become one of my favorite artists in Charleston - of which there are many! Too many to list here. She is much better than that other "Painter of Light".

That's not saying much. That other "light" guy couldn't clean Shannon Smith's brushes - I don't care how many galleries he has.

Spencer Art Gallery will be showing, New Works, of ceramic sculpture by Jessica Jones. The Verner Gallery will present, Visual Works, an exhibition featuring works by Elizabeth O'Neill Verner and other works by gallery artists, Daphne vom Baur, Mary Walker, Manning Williams, Lonnie Stewart, Karel Mikolas and Lese Corrigan. The Wells Gallery is offering an exhibition of New Works by Rhett Thurman, Joseph Cave, and Jeff Sojka.

Tiemaker's Gallery is showing, Paint for Paint's Sake, featuring works by Matt Overend and Emily Jenkins. Tidwells Art Gallery will be featuring its annual exhibition showcasing Miles Batt's new Spoleto Poster. Works by Irene Charles Batt will also be on view. Tippy Stern Fine Art will be offering the exhibition, Paintings, featuring works by Richard Hagerty, Don Nice, and Arn Strasser. This will be the first anniversary for Tippy Stern Fine Art, which opened last year during Spoleto with the highly acclaimed exhibition, entitled, In the Shadow of the Flag.

That's it for the exhibitions - at least all we know about. At least I hope I haven't forgotten about any. And, I don't want you to think that just because Charleston's other galleries are not presenting exhibitions that they are not worth checking out. There is something there for any and every taste in art. Although some say Charleston is lacking in "cutting edge" art, it's not the fault of the galleries. If the public supported "cutting edge" art by buying it - there would be plenty of galleries offering this art. It's here, you just have to look harder to find it.

Now, I couldn't finish this piece without putting in a plug for Charleston's art pioneers. All that is Charleston's visual art scene today has developed in the last 10-15 years. Before then, galleries in Charleston were far and few between. Artists like Alfred Hutty, Alice Smith, Anna Heyward Taylor, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner, and William Halsey, represent the real pioneers of the modern Charleston art scene. Their time is better known as the Charleston Renaissance. You can still buy their work at galleries like, Carolina Fine Paintings & Prints, Charleston Renaissance Gallery, The Verner Gallery, Eva Carter Gallery and the McCallum-Halsey Studio. And, we still have with us artists who are connected to that time including, Corrie McCallum, Virginia Fouché Bolton and Anne Worsham Richardson.

McCallum is still working on a daily basis and her work, old and new, can be seen at the McCallum-Halsey Studio (call for an appointment). I purchased a print there recently at a "very" reasonable price!

Virginia Fouché Bolton's work can be seen at Reflections South and Anne Worsham Richardson's works can be viewed at Bird's I View Gallery.

And, as always, if you're not going to Charleston for the visual arts during Spoleto, come anytime. If you're not going anywhere, go see some of the great art in all the galleries in your area. There is a lot of great art out there in the Carolinas. If you don't believe me ask a Canadian. To find out what that's all about, read my commentary starting on page 2 of this issue. Learn about our biggest fans.

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