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September Issue 2003
HoFP Gallery in Columbia, SC, Presents Works by Rick Wells and Jimmy Dinkins
The HoFP Gallery in
Columbia, SC, will present Carolina Country, Boy! an art
show featuring works by plein-air artist Rick Wells and functional
sculpture by Jimmy Dinkins. The show depicts images of the distinct
topography of rural South Carolina and the everyday objects that
may be found upon its landscape. The show will be on view from
Sept.16 through Oct. 10, 2003.
As any southerner knows, you cannot live in the South without
being influenced or manipulated in some way by its landscape.
People are tied to the land. In South Carolina the land slopes
from the foothills of the Blue Ridge to the shores of barrier
islands. Veer far enough from the well traveled path and you can
find the quiet beauty of Carolina Country. If you look closely
you can find the landscape's inherent dignity and mankind's mark
upon it, rural secondary roads, and major interstates, small towns
along highways, tobacco farms, tidal creeks, and beaches. Many
artists, from the region and not, are drawn to the vistas, peoples,
and gothic drama of Southern geography for their imagery.
Rick Wells
Painter Rick Wells has long ties to the South and its unique artistic expression. He attended Dreher High School, in Columbia, where he studied with Sue Floyd. He went on to attend the University of South Carolina. In 1987 he was awarded "Most Outstanding Undergraduate" by the Art School.
Wells is best known as a plein-air artist. (Plein-air is a term used for paintings or drawings made directly from nature, entirely on location. The term came into vogue with the Impressionists and the Barbizon School.) Wells captures the native beauty of South Carolina's Lowcountry with realistic stylized paintings. He does not use the aid of photography or any electronics to hold the scene he is painting. He relies entirely upon direct observation. Wells feels that his paintings are a record of his life and travels. They document where he has been and the wonders he has seen. Through his travels in art, Wells has studied with or been influenced by Ed Yaghjian, Roy Drasites, Phillip Mullen, Sidney Guberman, and Blue Sky. Wells summarizes his work best with, "I have never seen a painting as beautiful as the places I have been. I am trying to make that painting."
Jimmy Dinkins,
a South Carolina native, represents Carolina in his creations
as well. He creates functional sculpture from found objects. His
building blocks might have been originally made for harnessing
the land or simply discarded upon the land. Then he morphs them
into striking furniture and sculpture. His pieces are endowed
with a rural spirit or country landscape presence. For example
he has created unusual bar stools from tractor seats and unique
benches from odd wood. Sometimes he simply uses components of
the land in innovative ways, such as binding indigenous saplings
and tree trunks into fashionable tables.
For more info check our SC Commercial Gallery listings,
call the gallery at 803/799-7405, or on the web at (www.hofpgallery.com).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing
Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2003 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© 2003 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.