July Issue 2002
Red Piano Too Art Gallery Celebrates 10th Anniversary
by Carol Tuynman
Red Piano Too Art Gallery on St. Helena Island, SC. is featuring an exhibition entitled, Sons of the South, featuring works by Charles Desaussure, Allen Fireall, Stephen Elliott Rhett and Clay Rice. The gallery will also celebrate its 10th Anniversary on Aug. 3, from noon to 4pm. The public is invited.
"I must study politics and war, that my
sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy...in
order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry,
music..."
- John Adams
John Adams, America's 2nd President in a letter to his wife Abigail wrote: "I must study politics and war, that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry and porcelain."
Though the words of a Yankee, they aptly describe a cultural lineage nurtured by elite Lowcountry families: Calhouns, Clays, Elliotts, Pinckneys, Rhetts, Rutledges, to name a few. For generations the children of plantation owners and wealthy merchants were given the finest educations, often sent abroad to England or France.
Carolina's native sons and daughter of humble origins generally had to leave the South to find recognition and support. Jasper Johns, the father of the Pop Art movement, who was first recognized in New York City and whose paintings today bring some of the highest prices for a contemporary American artist, was the son of a poor South Carolina cotton farmer. Few knew that Dizzie Gillespie was a South Carolinian until long after he had become an internationally renowned jazz trumpeter.
For many, the seeds of democracy planted by our founding fathers were slow to bear fruit. And unless a Congressman rails against National Endowment for the Arts funding of controversial art, we rarely think of freedom of expression when we think of the arts. Yet until well after the mid-20th century, some artists found that their images and ideas were being censored.
George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, completed in 1935 and based on Charleston writer's Heyward DuBose's Porgy, was first performed in Charleston in 1970. The 1935 premier was held in Boston because blacks and whites were not allowed to perform together on a Charleston stage.
In Beaufort as recently as the early 1970s a nude painting by Marian Talmadge Etheridge (aka Savannah) was banned from a local art association's annual show.
Today the Lowcountry Sea Islands boast a diversity of well-known artists who stand shoulder-to-shoulder proudly recognized as sons and daughters of the South. In part, this is so because artists themselves, art lovers across the country, and galleries like Red Piano Too on St. Helena have chosen to inclusively lift up and celebrate the creative spirit of all artists and their heritage.
The paper silhouette popularized in mid-18th and early-19th century France was enthusiastically embraced by the colonists. The tradition continued in the South and evolved to take on new forms after the introduction of photography.
Clay Rice
Clay Rice, performance silhouettist, uses a welder's plasma cutter to hand-sculpt delicate Lowcountry scenes - wading birds, boats, fishermen - from steel sheets. His freehand works are often commissioned for wall hangings, gates, gazebos, furniture and fireplaces. Rice learned the art of silhouette from his grandfather who became famous around the world for his instantaneously produced paper silhouettes that he would often give away. The silhouette performances were accompanied by his lively folk tales, his banjo and his beret.
Rice followed in his grandfather's footsteps, became a musician and produced a CD and a book of charming silhouettes, Lowcountry tales, and songs he has sung over the past 23 years. Rice too can create a paper silhouette with surgical scissors in less than a minute.
Savannah, GA, artist Allen Fireall's artistic career was also shaped by a grandparent, his grandmother Miss Pearlie. He remembers the lilt of her Gullah accent, her passing on of family lore and her colorful dress and mannerisms. On Sept. 11th Fireall recalls, she called him and said with deep concern, "Why do people gotta be so mean to other people?" Her death shortly thereafter has resolved Fireall to keep alive through his art her spirit and the traditions of the Gullah people he has known. Cash N Carry Grocery, Isle of Hope, Sweet Georgia Melon, and Red Top, are a few of his recent paintings.
Charles
Desaussure
"My work reflects the joys, opportunities and responsibilities of our people," says Charleston artist Charles Desaussure in his soft, well-spoken voice. Desaussure was inspired by his two older brothers who would let him watch while they drew, but not let him touch. Period. Yet he stuck to his dream and after seeing the world while in the Air Force, he came back home to the people and rich experiences that nurtured his identity with Lowcountry urban black culture.
Desaussure has a keen eye for capturing the moments that make Charleston and other coastal Southern cities international attractions. His paintings remind us that there is surely humor and often riveting beauty in the ordinary. Making Charleston More Beautiful, a painting of a woman getting her hair curled in the kitchen says it all.
Stephen Elliott Rhett is grounded in the art world as a 5th generation artist in his family. Three hundred and ten years of fine and applied art traditions have served as a springboard to explore various expressive options. Most recently he has ventured into free and wildly abstract landscape paintings. He is working on what he describes as an "expand my horizon series," long narrow mixed media paintings inspired by the vast expanses of water, sky, clouds and sun transformations at Harbor Island, SC, where he currently lives.
Under the tutelage of his artist parents painting became as natural for Rhett as breathing and walking. This allows him to be equally responsive to his inner callings and to the calling of those who give him commissions. He thrives on challenges that offer new opportunities. Recent commissions to paint an orchid and a Calla Lily have opened new avenues of expression for this artist who recognizes the metamorphic imperatives embedded in tradition.
Sons of the South
will culminate with the Red Piano Too 10th Anniversary Celebration,
taking place Aug. 3, from noon to 4pm. The public is invited.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings
or call the gallery at 843/838-2241.
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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Carolina Arts
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