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August Issue 2008
Hampton III Gallery in Taylors, SC,
Features Works by Carl R. Blair
Hampton III Gallery in Taylors, just outside of Greenville, SC, will present the exhibit, Wayfaring Strangers, featuring 30 sculptures by Carl R. Blair, long time South Carolina artist, from Aug. 21 through Sept. 27, 2008.
The following is written by Michelle Berg Radford.
"If I know anything, it's the land and the animals," Blair states as he flashes back to images of his childhood, growing up on the farm in Atchison, KS, during the Depression. This exhibition is Blair's fifth show featuring his wooden animal sculptures. The sculptures previously exhibited in Charleston, Greenville, Anderson and Charlotte may be a surprise to viewers who are familiar with Blair's earlier works, but they are not a new focus for Blair. He has been shaping his menagerie for over 50 years.
Earlier sculptures were small ceramics fired in the kiln at Bob Jones University where he taught for 40 years. Even though the subject matter was humorous, he considered these serious works of art. ("Always take your work seriously, but never take yourself too seriously," he asserts.) In the last few years Blair began to devote more time to his animals when Tom Styron, director of the Greenville County Museum of Art, encouraged him to do more. The museum owns several of Blair's sculptures.
Each sculpture begins as a sheet of plywood or a plank of wood. Forms are cut. Negative shapes left over are often reproposed into details - fur, feathers, flourishes. After the body is assembled, Blair hand-carves further details. Found objects such as marbles become eyes. Screws, a dog collar or a mop head also find their way into the sculptures. A skin of gesso is added, followed by many colors of paint.
While Blair describes his paintings as "visual poetry," his animals are more biographical, narrative - and satirical. Each work projects a distinct mood, personality. Lightheartedness and foolishness abound, coupled, at times, with sadness and pain. "Some animals are sensitive and easily hurt. Some are in charge, and you can't tell them what to do." In Blair's unique way, his animals represent his understanding of human nature and of life. They show the frailty of humankind, but - in keeping with Blair's personality - placed in humorous contexts.
It's no surprise that a group of sculptures display patriotic undertones. Blair is a patriot, having served in the US Army during the Korean War. His studio walls bear photos and mementos from his time in the Army. "The army gave me the drive and discipline I didn't have as a young person." Stars, badges of honor, or patriotic titles decorate the brave. Dog Soldier (Special Forces) Camouflaged stands on a flatbed wagon, bone in mouth, and a star on his right side. Bright colors, a rhinoceros-like horn, and jagged scales protect his true identity as a dog soldier. Not all of his animals return from war unscathed. Wounded Warrior, a one-legged bird, returns home on a wooden wagon, standing nobly and bearing a star on each wing.
Other animals are inflicted with pain from non-combat wounds. A non-heroic rooster, Oh, My Right Foot Hurts So, hops on one foot. A three-inch screw pierces through his other foot, dripping cadmium red "blood". It's hard to tell the cause of this wound, since the screw enters the foot from the top side, but the rooster seems to be loosing his color due to his pain. In Mother Have You Come To See Me Hang? a chicken swings suspended from the gallows. His feet dangle a half-inch from the ground, his body slumped over, his marble eyes glazed over with acrylic paint. The title for Mother comes from the lyrics to an old ballad Blair listens to while he works. "I love those heart-rending songs." The wounded animals seem to reflect Blair's bitter-sweet view of life and death.
Just plain silliness envelop some animals, as reflected in the titles Phewie Louie, the skunk, and He Was a Dandy, a proud and bossy rooster. Billy Goat Gruff, prim and proper, stands atop a chunk of a railroad tie, perhaps to distract us from the "goat pies" he has dropped behind his platform. Who Will Wear the Starry Crown?, a pink and white toy poodle adorned with rag mop fur and tail, wears a delicately crafted crown. In Friends by Necessity a bird and a pink squirrel-like animal are trapped together in a red bird cage. The cage bears hand-written warnings such as "WATCH FINGERS", "WATCH CHILDREN", and "KEEP BACK". They echo the warning signs Blair posts to himself on sticky notes in his studio. "WATCH FINGERS", is posted on his band saw.
Political satire is implied in works like Bill, He Yaps a Lot, But He Don't Say Much and Mistakes Were Made. In Who They Got, John McCain?, a non-star-bearing donkey (we assume he is not a veteran) performs atop a large, star-studded stage.
Blair is an "intuitive". He starts with a general idea but allows it to change directions as he continues. "The direction becomes obvious as you work on it. I may start out with a two-footed animal, and it ends up as a four-footed animal." The animals take on their identities as they "grow" in Blair's studio next to the stacks of paintings and prints. "Some anatomical forms get into my landscapes, and the abstraction in my landscapes gets into my animals. I'm always working with the same principles of composition, taking those principles and elements and making the best work of art I can do." Here Blair hints at his role as an art professor as he rapidly rattles off the principles of design ("unity, variety, rhythm") without skipping a beat.
"Sculpture takes much more time [than painting]," Blair says. Hard work is both ethic and process in Blair's work. "Hard work beats talent any day of the week. I have never considered anything I have done in my whole life to be 'work'." One can find Blair singing and dancing around the studio as he cuts, glues and paints, often working into the early morning hours. He continues until another personality is born.
Michelle Berg Radford is a professor of painting at Bob Jones University. She holds an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and a BFA and MA in Studio Art from Bob Jones University.
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