We first reported on Adrian Rhodes’ installation, “Blood and Honey” in our March 2020 issue of Carolina Arts. The installation was going to take place at Francis Marion University’s University Place Gallery in downtown Florence, SC, from Mar. 9 through Apr. 17, 2020, but I understand the doors were only open for a week before the COVID-19 Pandemic closed them. I had planned to see that installation then, but the Pandemic had other plans. When I got the notice that the gallery space was reopening and that this installation would be extended and be on view until Aug. 28, 2020, I was overjoyed. I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge waking up on Christmas Day realizing I hadn’t missed the installation after all. Plus, this was the only college/university level gallery space currently open in South Carolina – another reason to go and support them.
I decided August 7, a Friday, would be the day, so I left the house about 10am, planning to get there at noon when they opened. Florence is less than two hours away on a drive up Hwy. 52. It’s not much farther from Columbia, SC, traveling on I-20. It’s a little more than two hours from Raleigh, NC, and about the same from Charlotte, NC. So it’s just a few hours drive from millions of folks in the Carolinas.
I was making good time, so when I got to Lake City, SC, I did a little tour of the so called “artsy” town – more about that later. But I arrived on N. Dargan Street in Florence where the gallery is located a few minutes before noon, parked the car and got out to walk around a few minutes. There was plenty of free parking in the area around the gallery. Not much else was open in the area, but there was still plenty of construction and renovations going on. When the Pandemic is over, that area around N. Dargan and Evans Streets is going to be a hoppin’ part of downtown Florence.
At noon I checked the door of the gallery and it was open. I walked in and waved to Colleen Critcher, the gallery director and started looking. I always look at everything first before I start taking photos and really looking at works. I let my mind’s eye direct me to where ever it wants or is invited. There is another exhibit on view in the gallery, “Small Works 2020,” a juried exhibition sponsored by the Florence Regional Arts Alliance. Both shows will be on view through August 28.
Soon Critcher came up to greet me – wearing a mask, as I was, and standing more than six feet away. We did a little shop talk about the area – art stuff. As usual, I don’t share anything that someone in the visual art community and myself talk about, as I know there are always people looking to punish folks for talking – telling me the truth about what’s going on. There was nothing in our conversation which people would object to, but you never know. Beside before long Critcher’s young daughter came out of the office to see us. But I did learn that Adrian Rhodes was going to be part of a major exhibition at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, NC, which we reported was opening this month in August, but has now been pushed back to September and who knows after that – darn Pandemic. More about that later.
Soon, I was back to the looking part of my visit, but I have to apologize to the artists in the “Small Works” exhibit, as it was a little hard to stay focused with Rhodes’ installation calling, “Look at this!” and “How about this – seen anything like this before?”. It didn’t take long to finish the “Small Works” exhibit and get on to discovering the mind and creativity of Adrian Rhodes.
At this point, I want to give you a little section from the gallery handout about Rhodes’ installation. “Please Note – Our current exhibition includes many elements that are unusual in traditional art presentations. Please exercise caution and notice that you will find artwork hanging from the ceiling or draped across the floor. Please do not touch portions of the exhibition. Please take precautions to avoid tripping or damaging the artwork.”
Keeping this statement in mind, I think young children would enjoy this installation – it’s very colorful, there is lots of eye candy, and there are hundreds of 3-D bees all over the place, but if your children can’t control their urge to touch or manhandle things they see – don’t bring them to this gallery for this show.
At this point it should be noted how wonderful it is that we have artists in our community who are willing to work for years to create the components to produce such an installation that will most likely never be sold – unless some big corporation had a big space to fill and their business was related to bees or honey. It’s also hard to imagine the cost as Critcher told me – everything in this installation is hand printed – everything. And as you start to take a closer look at everything – the wallpaper backgrounds, the basic images in the center of most of the settings, down to the individual bees, it all comes from printing out the images. That is mind-blowing.
Rhodes’ installations don’t fall into the category where someone viewing could buy one of her works, but she does have an online shop on her website at (https://www.adrianrhodes.com/shop). For instance, you could buy one of her individual bees, seen all over her installation for $35.
Take the little bees (well, they are much larger than the size of a real bee) alone, of which there are hundreds of them – how long does it take to produce just one bee? And, if you look real close, you’ll notice they’re not all the same pattern. No cookie-cutter art her.
Rhodes also includes an actual woodcut board which is the basis of several of her central images in different installation pieces. You see how this image is the first step and then her mind takes it elsewhere – on and on.
Rhodes offers this as part of her artist’s statement, “Using prints as modular components allows the work to inherit visual information across pieces. Pulling on the iconography of symbols and objects I examine how my process reflects the recalibration inherent in the search for a ‘new normal’ as life shifts. As I work, I attempt to frame a question – How can we hold extremes of bitter and sweet – forces which stand in such opposition they should not be able to coexist, and yet they do – so how do we find the balance of them?” I’m also including some photos of the text panels supporting this installation so you can read more of what Rhodes had to say about her work.
Folks, there’s a lot to take in while viewing this exhibit, if you want to take the time. If not, the imagery itself is worth the visit. I’m still wondering how long it took to install this work, and I understand that during the time it was up and the gallery was closed some elements had to be swapped out to take some components that will be in other exhibitions. Again, Pandemics are rough on exhibitions – and artists and gallery directors.
At this point I’m going to have to let the photos I took do more talking for me as I can’t fully express what I saw. This one is worth leaving your bunker and going to see before it moves on or is dismantled. Adrian Rhodes is an artist that you’ll want to keep an eye and ear out for – any exhibit which her work is included, individual or group is going to be worth seeing – no matter Pandemic or not. And speaking of disasters happening in North and South Carolina, as of Sunday, Aug. 9, you can add the earthquake which took place in Sparta, NC.
This woodblock carving is the starting point for several works.
This is “Searching for Calisto”
This large piece was called “Taste of the Fruit”, but it might have had another name for the work to the right.
A closer look to the left of “Taste of the Fruit”
This is a view of the center of “Taste of the Fruit”, notice the woodcut image.
View to the left of “Taste of the Fruit”, but it might have been a different work, but it seems connected by bees.
A little closer in on the right.
A close up of some bees. Notice no one is the same and all these printed images have to be cut out.
This work is called “Blood and Honey”
Close up of “Blood and Honey”
A little closer to “Blood and Honey” the main images and the bee like (wall paper) background.
This work “Bee Ball” hangs over “Blood and Honey”.
General gallery view.
Another wide view, this piece is called “Hive”
This work is called “The Words Caught In The Back Of My Throat”
A little closer in to “The Words Caught In The Back Of My Throat”
Close in look at the stitching between the two painting leading to the pile on the floor.
You can watch an interview with Rhodes by Colleen Critcher on YouTube at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KM1v1mQb6s&feature=youtu.be).
You can watch an Artist’s Talk by Rhodes on YouTube at (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbD8KUY0yC0&feature=youtu.be).
You can next see work by Rhodes at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA) in Winston-Salem, NC, in the exhibition “DRAWN: Concept & Craft,” an expansive exhibition featuring more than 200 + diverse works by 60+ artists. The exhibit is scheduled to be on view from Sept. 15 – Feb. 15, 2021. Her work will be sharing attention with some pretty big names in the art world.
OK, now on to the “Small Works 2020” exhibition, which I did go back and look at again after viewing the Rhodes installation. This is the fifth year of this competition presented by the Florence Regional Arts Alliance, which tries to have the show in a different gallery spaces in the Pee Dee area each year. The exhibit is open to artists in both North and South Carolina and this year they received over 120 entries, which presents 45 works in an online exhibit at (https://www.fmarion.edu/universityplace/gallery/) and 41 works on view at the University Place Gallery. The exhibit and competition was juried by Lisa D. Watson, a Savannah, GA, based artist.
Work by Roger Halligan of Lake City, SC
Work by Julie Mixon of Florence, SC
Works had to be smaller than 12” x 12” to make it in this exhibit and many were smaller than that. There are some real gems in this exhibit. I took a few photos of works I liked and were not under glass, but you can see all that were on view and more at the URL given above, without having to deal with glare from glass.
Since the time I viewed this exhibit and I’m writing this they announced the winners of the competition and I’m happy that two works I liked came in first and second. Here are the results:
Work by Jeffrey Donovan of Columbia, SC
1st Place – “Snake Handlin’ Elvis Impersonator” by Jeffrey Donovan of Columbia, SC. Collage on canvas, wax paint, watercolor, pastel. 9 x7 inches.
Work by Mary Ellen Judge of Florence, SC
2nd Place – “Chi Chi Mod” by Mary Ellen Judge of Florence, SC. Acrylic, collage materials, fibers. 11 x 11 inches.
3rd Place – “LH – SOS 149” by Jan Chenoweth of Lake City, SC. Various pigments on wood panel. 10 x 10 inches.
HONORABLE MENTION – “Corvo” by Annette Giaco of Pauline, SC. Ink on board. 8 x 8 inches.
HONORABLE MENTION – “Snowflake On My Car Windshield No. 1” by Mel Schnur of Bluffton, SC. Photography, 7 x 5 ¼ inches.
I can admit that I wouldn’t have made the effort to go out and see just the “Small Works 2020” exhibit, but at the same time wouldn’t ignore it if you go to see the installation. And you can check it out online. I like small works, some are amazing in what artists can do in such a small space. Placed up against the backdrop of Rhodes’ installation is a little unfair, but in a Pandemic, you take the space that is available to you.
Work by Dave Sawyer of Greer, SC
If you’re still wondering if it’s a safe thing to go to a gallery during a Pandemic, the gallery opened at noon on a Friday and I was the only person there in the gallery besides the gallery director Colleen Critcher and her daughter. I spent 49 minutes there and no one else came in to force me to social distance, which would have been easy as the place is pretty big. That’s kind of how art galleries work – they’re not crowded unless a reception is taking place. I could have stayed all day or until they closed at 5pm looking at various parts of this installation, and safety probably never would have been a problem.
University Place Gallery is a visual art gallery on the first floor of the newly renovated Rainwater Building in downtown Florence, SC. University Place Gallery is an extension of Francis Marion University and is located at 142 N. Dargan Street, Florence, SC.
They’ll be open Tuesday – Friday, noon-5pm. You can call them at 843/661-4637, 843/661-4638 or visit
(https://www.fmarion.edu/universityplace/).
Alright, I know since the minute I mentioned Lake City, some of you have been waiting for me to dump on them again – letting my frustrations run wild over my disappointment in what ArtFields could have been and what it has turned into. Well, with a Pandemic going on it just doesn’t seem fair, but, a drive through a town that was going to revitalize itself through the arts was really depressing to see every gallery space closed, even at the hotel that was open, not much traffic on Main Street on a Friday, and not much signs of outdoor art – at least anything new. If there is any place in South Carolina where social distancing shouldn’t be a problem it’s Lake City and if the University Place Gallery in downtown Florence could be open, I don’t understand why galleries in Lake City were not. Gallery spaces all over SC are open and opening – even if on a limited basis. You can’t revitalize a town with the arts with a ten day art festival once a year. A lot of promised art development has not taken place to offer an all year arts offering to draw people to Lake City with other cities close by offering more. And, I blame most of that on inconsistent leadership and artistic direction. Changes in leadership happen more in Lake City than at the White House. It’s sad, Pandemic or not.
OK folks, get out there and see some art. It will do you good.