June Issue 2001
Pickens County Museum in Pickens, SC, Features Works in Oil by a Group of Upstate Artists
The Pickens County Cultural Commission invites you to a very special exhibition at the Pickens County Museum of Art & History in Pickens, SC. This delightful exhibition entitled, PURE OIL, will begin June 9, featuring the paintings of thirty regional artists, and continue through July 28.
When asked his intent in mounting this ambitious exhibition, Museum Director, and curator of PURE OIL, Allen Coleman stated, "A recent publication posed the question, 'Is painting dead?' With the tremendous advancements in recent years of technical reproduction, i.e. photography, digital imagery, and multimedia environments, painting has seemingly moved into the background as contemporary art pushes forward. Photography has rightfully established itself as a major art form, and significant and exciting photographic techniques are constantly being conceived. These technical advancements sometimes make it seem as if painting is slowing down simply because it is given less attention within the sensationalist edge of contemporary art. This certainly does not mean that painting is dead. PURE OIL is a proclamation that painting is very much alive; that artists, painters, are diligently working in the Upstate of the Carolinas as in regions throughout the nation and the world."
"The artists selected for this exhibition share one common element in that each work is 100% oil painting; no mixed media, no assemblage, no collage just "Pure Oil". After that fact, the representative styles are varied. The viewer will enjoy some works from a traditional vein and some works that demand contemplation. However, and most important, all of the works are expressions of a passion; a passion for the oil paint with its buttery textures and rich aroma; for the act of painting with its individual incidents and subtle nuances; for the consequence of that act the image that is finally presented to the viewer."
Thirty of these "passionate" painters are represented utilizing both of the museum's upstairs galleries. Included in that admirable roster are Betsy Bayne, Linda Cancel, C. Allen Coleman, Jim Craft, Daniel Cromer, Scott Cunningham, Jonathan Fenske, Tom Flowers, Julia Goldie Day, Hongpei Ho, Claire Miller Hopkins, Roderick A. Jackson, Alan MacTaggart, Dabney Mahanes, Haimed Mahmoodi, Mark Malmgren, J. Lane Mann, Bob Martin, Marshall McCall, Mark Mulfinger, Kerry Parkman, Teresa Prater, Amanda Sanders, Dana Taylor, B. Douglas Taylor, Barbara Van Gelderen, P. Michael Welch, Jane West, Francis S. Woodside and Janusz Zadurowicz.
PURE OIL is made possible in part through a grant from The Max & Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.
For more information, call the museum at (864)
898-5963.
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
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