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August Issue 2008
Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, Offers
Once-A-Millennium Exhibit
Gallery 80808 and Vista Studios in Columbia, SC, fittingly mark the once-a-millennium date of 8.08.08 with an exhibition celebrating the studio's unparalleled role in Columbia's visual arts. The exhibit entitled, 80808 on 80808, opens, of course, on Aug. 8, 2008, at 8:08am, and presents the work of the 13 current resident artists and 12 former artists of Vista Studios. The exhibition will continue through Aug. 26, 2008.
Vista Studios was established by the Columbia Development Corp. and the South Carolina Arts Commission to anchor development in Columbia's warehouse district, the Congaree Vista. Since its inception the studios have attracted an exciting mix of established and emerging artists. Why? Vista Studios functions as an artistic hot house that is both protective and demanding. Art is made. It is a creative community that supports artistic leaps and develops professionalism. Add to the environment a thriving rental gallery space, Gallery 80808, and you have a rare resource for artists of the Midlands.
Participating in 80808 on 80808 will be four artists who were original tenants in the fledging studios: current tenants Heidi Darr-Hope and Robert Kennedy, and returning artists Mike Williams and Anne Bjork. The impressive roster of returning alum also includes Bob Allison, Tyler Ann Blanton, Charlie Dillingham, Jeannette Grassi, Tonya Gregg, Christina James, Richard Morgan, Gene Speer, Christian Thee, and Brent Wahl.
Pat Gilmartin
Michel McNinch
Several current artists of Vista Studios will present work inspired by the number sequence 80808 - its repetition, its mystery, and its significance. Laura Spong explores the number "8" in series of small oil panels depicting the value in different counting systems. Recent travels by Michel McNinch yield a series of eight-by-eight-inch paintings of mountainous landscapes passed along interstate I-81. Pat Gilmartin presents the cryptic mixed media assemblage 8 by 8 eyes in which four crows watch, perhaps guard, a nested chair. As witness of a different sort, David Yaghjian presents the solemn (and comical) 8:08, a still life of a clock and an all-too-familiar dead Palmetto bug.
Sharon Licata includes the entwined limestone shape Along the Road, a reflection on her more than six years at Vista Studios; and Stephen Chesley presents Eight Miles High in welded varnished steel. Don Zurlo introduces his new Scribblescapes series with 8083 and 8084. Zurlo likens the energy of the works to the challenge to "say scribblescapes three times in rapid succession". Nine painted panels of different sizes constitute Eight Plus One by Ethel Brody. Vista Studios artists Jeff Donovan, Heidi Darr-Hope, Susan Lenz, Robert Kennedy, and Pat Callahan will also present new work.
For further information check our SC Commercial
Gallery listings, call the gallery at 803/252-6134 or visit (www.gallery80808vistastudios.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2008 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© 2008 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.