August 2011

Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, Features Works by Robert Garey

Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, will present the exhibit, Avenue B and 9th: Paintings by Robert Garey, on view in the Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery, from Aug. 23 through Sept. 29, 2011.

Garey grew up in Florence and graduated from McClenaghan High School in 1971. After “rambling” for a few years, he enrolled at FMU and took all the art courses available in the curriculum at that time. In 1976, he moved to Charleston, SC, and had studios on The Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. While there, in addition to painting and freelance work, he found employment in the film industry as a scenic artist and sign painter when they were in the area shooting a movie.

Garey moved to New York City and set up a studio there in 1986. He worked as a sign painter to begin with, while spending time at The Art Students League drawing from the life models. He also worked as a freelance mural painter in several large commercial studios. Then in 1990, Garey enrolled at the Graduate School of the New York Academy of Art where he completed the course requirements for the MFA in studio painting.

Then, in partnership with another artist, Garey maintained his own mural studio where they produced large scale murals for private residences. He also worked for the Sotheby’s and Christie’s auction houses painting replicas of paintings for their clients. He lived in the city for twenty-six years before moving his studio back to Florence in February, 2011. He still maintains his sign shop in the Williamsburg district of Brooklyn, and so Garey now splits his time between Florence and NY.

“These paintings were made between 1999 and 2009. I lived for twenty years just east of the corner of Avenue B on East 9th street in New York City’s Lower East Side. It was during this time I made these paintings. Right across the avenue is Tompkins Square Park. These paintings depict that park and my friends and other local denizens of the neighborhood. I called upon the traditions of classical narrative painting and portraiture, as I do in all my studio work, to make these paintings.”

Also on view at FMU through Aug. 11, 2011, are the exhibits: Morning Walk in the Pee Dee - Images of Wildflowers We Don’t See, featuring works by Donna Goodman and 3-Dimensional Work by Roger D. Dalrymple.

For further information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/661-1385 or visit (http://departments.fmarion.edu/finearts/gallery.htm).

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