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August Issue 2007
Hampton III Gallery in Taylors, SC, Features Works by Paul Matheny and David Hooker
Hampton III Gallery in Taylors, SC, is presenting the exhibit, Under the Sky, featuring paintings by Paul Matheny and sculptures by David Hooker, on view through Aug. 25, 2007.
Paul Matheny
Paul Matheny is a 1996 graduate of Winthrop University and has exhibited his work in the Carolinas and Georgia. His paintings focus on his constant search for truth and honesty in his artwork and the world around him. The images themselves are drawn from religion, roadside icons and hand painted "sermons", local legends and myths, vegetable and firework stands, kudzu and the southern landscape, barbecue, and other significant cultural treasures from our region.
Journals and the unconventional idea of "sketch books" have always held a particular interest for this artist. In 1999, continuing with his ongoing series The Search for Truth he began a series of work referred to as "journal paintings" integrating his interest in the visual aesthetic of the written word in journals, with his painted images. New work from this series will be included in this exhibition.
David JP Hooker
David JP Hooker is a transplanted Southerner who was glad to see his second winter in Wheaton, IL, come to a close. He received an MFA in Ceramics from Kent State University, a BA in English from Furman University, and currently teaches at Wheaton College. Hooker's artwork combines images from his daily life, art history, pop culture, and other assorted bits and pieces that inspire him in peculiar ways. His interests lie in how our culture shapes us and how we in turn can shape our culture.
Hooker's work has been widely exhibited, and can be found in the South Carolina State Museum Permanent Collection, First Charter's Corporate Headquarters in Charlotte, NC, and the Woodruff Branch of the Spartanburg County Library in South Carolina. Currently, he is exhibiting paintings at Virginia Tech and preparing for an exhibition at Milliken University this fall.
Matheny and Hooker met while students at Winthrop University around '92-'93. A friendship ensued and each was surprised to see how similar their approach to art had developed. Both drew upon folk art as an inspiration, and they began comparing notes and inspiring each other. The following statements have been excerpted from their conversations.
"My pieces wouldn't be the same if I bought prefabricated materials," says Matheny. "The total process is important to the final result. There are several parts in creating a painting: selecting wood, cutting, assembling the panels, priming, writing on the surface, surface preparation and image making. Then the final painting eventually emerges. All along, there are internal conversations. When I write on the boards, the words are usually thoughts, prayers, ideas, and song lyrics or conversations I overhear in or around my studio. But the process of painting on the surface is a quiet opportunity to reflect, think, withdraw and escape. During the writing and image making the time seems more like sacredly silent moments."
"Nature is an important element in my creative process and actively participating in nature is critical. The mountains, trees, leaves, wind and paddling on the rivers, tidal creeks and lakes and absorbing the low country landscape help provide energy and influence in the creation of my paintings."
"I don't always know exactly what my paintings are 'about'. I know my influences, elements and what the elements in my image bank mean to me, however I leave any specific or personal meaning up to the viewer and their own experiences to consider what it might mean to them, and seeing the work through their own unique experiences and influences."
"One of my first art lessons was from a sign painter in Belton, SC, that rented a shed in the back of my granddad's Gulf Station," adds Matheny. "Later on, when I became more aware of the visual culture of the region I began to search out artists that were completely different than anything else I had ever seen, including other sign painters, traditional folk and outsider artists - paying close attention to their honesty, intent and their approach and reason for making art - in addition to many other artists at Winthrop University and along the Carolina border. The visual elements of music have also been a huge influence in my work, when songs collide with the landscape during road trips through the country."
"Skin is a sensory organ that conveys knowledge through touch, as opposed to intellectually," says Hooker. "I listen with my hands. That has implications of wonder for me. Even though I do not fully understand my work, I catch glimpses from time to time."
"The pieces of the process are important to me. One of the things I like about making work is that there are so many different tasks to do, and several of them are really just brain numbing, busy work. When I have to make aesthetic decisions - like when I begin a sculpture, I'm usually listening to familiar music. That can serve as rhythm/ background music. I mix it all up trying to keep any one 'mood' from overpowering my thoughts. When I really have to make tough decisions, I turn off the music."
"I have become interested in the Bricolour idea, which places the artist in the role of a tinker-er (material as a starting point) as opposed to a scientist (idea as a starting point)," says Hooker. "Working for me is liturgical; and that model implies a lot about communicating with God. One of the things I like about that model is that it takes the pressure off of having some experience or emotional epiphany. Sometimes you are just 'going through the motions,' but in so doing, you are always living your faith and leaving the communication lines open."
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