The Greenville Center for Creative Arts opened about 4-5 years ago in the former Brandon Mill and has become a hub of the arts scene in the Village of West Greenville, at 101 Abney Street. It was started by two local artists, Carrie Burns Brown and Randy Armstrong. I’ve been wanting to get there to see it, but could never find the time and then I saw they were having a show that included works by Mark Mulfinger. I was interested, as I had purchased an amazing linocut by Mulfinger at a Charleston gallery, but never got to know that much about him. This would be a chance to learn more and oh boy did I.
The exhibition was entitled “Fiber, Paper, Scissors”, which turns out to be two exhibits, which were on view from June 7 through July 24, 2019. I’m sorry that I couldn’t finish this blog post before now, but I was waiting for some materials to come from the Arts Center that never came and I waited too long and now you won’t get a change to see this show. But these artists will be seen again, probably in the Center’s next show, the “GCCA 4th Annual Showcase”, which opens very soon.
Batik by Mark Mulfinger
“Fiber, Paper, Scissors” showcases works by four artists from the Greenville area whose emphasis on their chosen medium celebrates the beauty of cloud formations and South Carolina’s landscapes.
Work by Douglas Piper
Work by Meredith Piper
Works by Meredith Piper
Work by Mark Mulfinger. This much like the piece I own, but of flowers.
Douglas Piper (Greenville, SC), Meredith Piper (Greenville, SC), and Mark Mulfinger (Greenville, SC) see an unexplained beauty in the clouds which is intrinsically tied to their craft. Their body of work “Amongst the Clouds” consists of various mediums including work based in batik, watercolor, acrylic and oil paint, block prints, and textile. Their work was on view in the Center’s Gallery A.
Final work by Douglas Piper and the four color blocks it took to make the print.
Larger batik by Mark Mulfinger
Over the course of 100 consecutive days, Sarah Mandell (Greenville, SC) created one fiber painting (needle felted wool paintings) per day. Focusing on South Carolina’s landscapes, her “100 Days, 100 Fibers” in Gallery B induces fascination over this state’s abundance of sceneries and landmarks. This collection of fiber paintings shares Mandell’s appreciation for all the beauty SC has to offer.
Acrylic painting by Mark Mulfinger
Watercolor painting by Mark Mulfinger
What turned out to be the big surprise for me was the fact that Fulfinger wasn’t a one medium artist. He had beautiful works in Batik and paintings in acrylic and watercolor. Who knew? Probably everyone in the Upstate. I was lucky to be able to afford the work I had purchased many years ago as I wouldn’t be able to today. It’s not that his work is that high for what it is – you see I own this arts publication and it takes all I have these days.
My problem is, doing a visual arts publication covering two states with a lot of talented artists, it’s hard to keep up with many. Sure I’m exposed to a lot of art, every month, but then it’s on to another group of artists the next month. I do pretty good in that I can usually go to a juried show and tell you who most of the artists are without looking at tags – at least those who I call frequent flyers – artists who seem to have their works on view on a regular basis all over the Carolinas and stick to a certain style. But sometimes I’m fooled and usually that’s a good thing.
Another problem is that Mulfinger’s work isn’t seen much outside of the Upstate in South Carolina. The gallery I purchased his work from was only open a few years in Charleston and no other gallery picked up representing him. South Carolina is split up into three regions: Upstate, Midlands, and Lowcountry, and sometime really good artists never break out of their region. That’s a shame. What our state’s visual art community needs is more exchange exhibits. Forget about sending regional exhibits overseas, we need some instate exchanges. It would be great if the show that’s about to start at the Greenville Center for Creative Arts would come to the Lowcountry and the show that was just in Charleston at the City Gallery during Piccolo Spoleto would travel to the Upstate and the Midland. But that would probably take the efforts of a strong statewide arts agency to pull that off as it would need funding. Too bad we don’t have one in South Carolina. All we have is the SC Arts Commission. Maybe new leadership will shake things up. I’m not holding my breath.
The other two artists in the “Amongst the Clouds” exhibit, Meredith and Douglas Piper, I did not know of before now and Sarah Mandell, I had recently done a “Carolina Arts News” blog post about a residency she did at a state park, so I was awear of her work, but this was the first time I’ve seen it up close. Before that post I had not heard or seen much about fiber painting. See that post at this link.
Some of the 100 works by Sarah Mandell
More works by Sarah Mandell
Works by Sarah Mandell
A close up of a work by Sarah Mandell
I liked all the work in this exhibit and all the artists are very skilled at what they do, and as usual artists in general always amaze me in how they find different was to express themselves and use mediums in different ways.
The gallery space was great, sort of in the middle of things going on. They could use a few more lights to make sure all works are well lit, but I’m sure they have a big wish list of needs. They’ve done a fantastic job with the space they have and I was down right envious of the place. Greenville’s visual art community as a whole has grown in leaps and bounds since I was last there. I’d love to spend a few days there exploring for a weekend, including one of their First Fridays Art Crawls.
I’m sorry I didn’t get to send any folks running to the Center after reading this review, but I can give you info on the next show and event. Don’t miss it.
Work by Carrie Burns Brown. Anyone who has been following me knows I always have an eye out for abstracts.
The “GCCA 4th Annual Showcase” will be on view from August 2 – September 25, 2019. An opening reception will be held on August 2, from 6-9pm (during the First Friday event). Bring your family and friends for the Wholy Smoke BBQ food truck, Unlocked Coffee Roasters, Southern Libations mobile bar, and a free make & take kids art activity with REcraft Greenville.
The “Annual Showcase” will include the “2019 Member Show”, “2018-2019 Brandon Fellows Final Show”, and the “Summer Art Camp Showcase”. It will give you an opportunity to see the whole facility.
The “2019 Member Show” will feature individual works of art done by current members of GCCA. I would fully expect to see works by the four artists mentioned in this blog in this show, but I could be wrong. You’ll just have to go and see.
This exhibition is open to current GCCA Members, the annual “Member Show” provides an opportunity for the community to see the breadth and depth of work being created by supporting members of GCCA.
The “Brandon Fellowship Final Show” featured works by the 2018-19 Brandon Fellows Brittany Kelly, Angel Jenkins and Elliot Lovegrove will be on view.
For further information call the Center at 864/735-3948 or visit (www.artcentergreenville.org).