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May Issue 2004
Patriot Hall Fine Arts Center in Sumter, SC, Features Works by Beki Crowell
The
Sumter County Cultural Commission, recipient of the 2003 Elizabeth
O'Neill Verner Award for the arts, will be presenting a solo art
exhibition of the provocative paintings by Beki Crowell. The exhibit
entitled, Peace and Passion, will be held at the Patriot
Hall Fine Arts Center in Sumter, SC, from May 7 - July 10, 2004.
Crowell's choice for the title of this exhibit is revealing to the nature of her work. Any of you who have had the opportunity to experience her work, in the many exhibits, installations and multi sensorial projects she has undertaken in the past 18 years here in the Lowcountry, know that "Peace and Passion" are two words that perfectly depict her work. Many have likened her images to that of Georgia O'Keefe, in that they portray a sensuality, and lusciousness of the feminine through organic images seen in nature. However Crowell's work is often more abstract and her pallet is more vivid, having been influenced by her high school years spent in Nassau, Bahamas. There is a tropical feeling to her work, as well as a cultural slant that reveals her identity as a multicultural woman of color having lived and painted in three countries: Canada, the Bahamas and the US.
Many of you may have seen Crowell's artwork
in her boutique in Charleston, SC, Utopia, where she keeps the
walls adorned with her vibrant, sensual paintings.
Crowell's artwork has been obviously influenced by her experiences
as a mother. She has three sons! Many of the images revealed in
her work reflect birth and the feminine nature. There is also
a strong element of the spiritual which is evident not only visually
but viscerally, when you sit with the work and allow the spirit
of the art to sink in. You will notice that her titles veer your
attention to the deeper intention of the work - the sensual images
and rich luscious colors drawing you into the core of the message,
which takes you beyond flesh and bone, into the heart and soul
of our being.
Crowell describes the idea behind the theme for this exhibit, " When we have touched the depths of our being, where peace is palpable, rich and full of the bliss we all yearn for, we touch the edges of passion, that well up within us as we see the world and the entities of life that encompass us and feed our souls with beauty, love and air to breathe, to live, too experience the magnificence of being human, here on earth while being more than that as well"
For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call Patriot Hall at 803/436-2260.
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2004 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.