Art Gallery Series 2013-14 Francis Marion University

DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS
Art Gallery Series 2013-2014
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Walter Sallenger, Art Gallery Curator

Art Gallery Series
May 7 - August 8, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Thur
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Metamorphosis: New Works by Sasha Federer.

Sasha was born in Prague, Czech Republic. He came to the United States in 1972. For the last 40 years he has worked as a Psychologist, which is his profession, and for the last 38 years, worked as a potter, which is his passion. He studied ceramic art in the state of Washington and Wisconsin. He worked as professional studio potter for three years in New Hampshire and served as Artist in Residence with the National Endowment for the Arts.

Sasha and his wife, Tari Federer, built a ceramic art studio and the Running Horse Gallery in Florence, SC. Sasha has exhibited in galleries throughout the east coast. He had the opportunity to have two solo shows in addition to many group shows in Florence, SC. He collaborates, on many of his pieces with Tari, his wife, also an artist, and their shared pieces are signed Satari, which is a combination of both of their names.

Even though he works in all temperature firing ranges, his greatest enjoyment comes from working with high-fired porcelain, which brings out the beauty of colors. He creates all of his own glazes and enjoys the constant search for new colors, combinations, and textures for his surface decoration.

"For the last 38 years, clay has been my friend, my teacher, and my companion. It has been a way to create and connect with all the potters that came before me.
Working with clay has been like stepping in the river of tradition, creating objects with a sense of purpose, and a touch of beauty that gives them life.

"We all share the timeless desire to combine objects of use with something that transforms them, creating unique from ordinary, and to experience beauty in every day moments.

"After all of these years, giving shape to a shapeless lump of clay, is still magical. The excitement of unloading a kiln, looking for treasures and gifts of fire, still makes me feel alive."

The Jar of Blue & Green by Sasha Federer

Art Gallery Series
August 20 - October 3, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Empirical - Photography by Julie Mixon.

Julie Mixon is an image-based media artist that focuses on processes that merge analog and digital photography. Currently, Julie is an Assistant Professor of Photography at Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina. She began her studies in photography as an undergraduate at Barton College where she received a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts. In 2004, she received her Master of Fine Arts Degree with a concentration in photography from East Carolina University. Julie’s career in photo education began at Lenoir Community College in 2004 where she taught as an Art Instructor for over seven years. Her photography courses emphasize traditional and digital darkroom techniques with an emphasis on the fusion of the two mediums.

"By definition empirical evidence is evidence based on observation and experience. These evidences come from sources such as the senses, memory and testimony. This body of image based media compares the image making process to gathering empirical evidence. In this case, the images are evidence of how I experience my nearby environment, particularly the home, family and the objects connected to them that are both man made and organic.

"My process of image making is often the result of joining symbolic objects together with images made of places and people of my day to day experience. These elements come together to form a personal narrative based on a memory or mere appreciation for formal (line, shape, color, texture, light) aspects.

"Many images from this series are placed in groups of two of three. Placing images together, whether related or random, allows the viewer to make their own narrative connections between the images. Even though the images represent personal memories of places and people, the viewer can still be connected to them by filling in the gaps. When we see something non-distinct, whether it be an abstract work of art or a patch of clouds, it is our natural desire to want to see something concrete. The process of layering images and varied materials lends itself to how memories exist, sometimes futile, sometimes clear, and more often that not, incomplete.

"Collectively, my work centers around symbolic objects, the spaces these objects inhabit and the people connected to them. Most often these spaces and objects are re-contextualized by taking them out of their original environment and re-building a new space for them to inhabit. I have always been drawn to natural objects but have never really been drawn to photographing them in their original environment. The act of collecting things from nature and joining them with other elements such as papers or found objects has been a fascination and a practice since childhood. My childhood practice of this process included finding leaves and flowers and gluing them to a piece of paper to make a formal design. This practice resurfaced, but has grown to utilize a flatbed scanner, various cameras and Photoshop."

Julie Mixon

Art Gallery Series
August 20 - October 3, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

World Without Walls - Ceramics by Hayley Douglas.

Hayley Douglas is primarily a ceramic artist, but she also experiments in other mediums. As of May 2013, she received her Master's Degree in Ceramics at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, SC. She completed her Bachelors of Arts degree in 2009 at Francis Marion University in Florence, SC. She is now teaching ceramics as a faculty member at Anderson University. She is also continuing to explore her ocean-inspired concepts and pushing her experimentation to more cosmic levels.

"Outer space is a vast frontier full of mystery and beauty. I have always been drawn to the vibrant images of outer space, with its bursts of color and clustered stars, spiraled galaxies and deep darkness. I have always created connections between the ocean and the cosmos, as I have found the two quite similar. The ocean is an expansive world without walls that has barely been explored. Such incredible creatures and marvels await beneath its cerulean surface. I would like to reach out and capture the beauty and wonder, securing it through my work.

"I work primarily in porcelain and glass. The surface of the glass provides a luminosity that is incomparable to other surfaces I have experimented with, and captures glints of light as it shines across the surface. I seek to provide a visual tie between space and the ocean.

"My art is comprised of recollections from time spent at the coast as a child, as well as elements from the imagery I have researched and I wish to capture for the viewer. The play of light on the cracked surfaces of the glass shimmers, while abundant patterns and shapes harmonize, representing the elements I find similar between the aquatic and cosmic environments that have influenced my art. Piece by piece I recollect the vivid memories of my experiences and my journey to discovery."

Hayley Douglas

Art Gallery Series
October 8 - November 7, 2013
Artists' Reception 6 pm Tuesday, November 5
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Passage In Time - Photography by Tari Federer.

Tari discovered her talents as a photographer unexpectedly. After over 35 years as a ceramic artist, she returned to school to complete her degree in Visual Arts. In photography courses she was quickly submerged in light and shadows and has found her true passion in nature, landscapes and wildlife photography. Strong contrast of light and shadow are captured in her images while using the black and white process. The images have a painterly feel, emphasizing the organic, yet impermanent, sense of nature in its transitions.

Born December 5, 1947, Tari spent a large portion of her life living in the Southwest, where she was exposed to the great outdoors, riding horses, hiking and canoeing. This passion has continued in the Carolinas. Her art career started at Ventura College and University of California-Santa Barbara. In 2010, she transferred to Francis Marion University in South Carolina and earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in Visual Arts and in Spanish, with a minor in Art History. Recalling her love of wild places in the American Southwest, Tari just made a career choice to become a photographer.

"In pursuit of my newly found passion, Photography, I have uncovered a love for black & white imagery. Black and white enhances the beauty of the light and shadow. By focusing the lens on different subject matter or points of interest, and using a wide aperture, the surrounding environment gently evaporates enhancing shallow depths of field.

"I choose scenes and subjects that are quiet and peaceful, reflecting the beauty I see in old objects, animals, and nature. These images compel me to see, what is often unseen. Often, the imagery is of pastoral landscapes, as I feel interconnectedness with nature. It is the meeting place of all that I am. It is the mirror of my soul. Because color in imagery was not introduced until I was in my teens, I feel that color takes away the beauty of these lustrous values; high contrast, light, and shadows that emphasize the form, line, and shape of subject matter.

"Although realistic, my work has grown out of previous experimentation with dark room and digital processes. I am constantly challenging myself to be open to new techniques and experiments. My influence has come from Alfred Stieglitz, Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier---Bresson, Vivian Maier, and my Photography Professor, Julie Mixon, who encourages critical thinking, photography fundamentals, and exploration of new ideas."

Tari lives in South Carolina with her husband, horses, and dogs...cats...guinea hen....

Passage In Time by Tari Federer

Art Gallery Series
October 8 - November 7, 2013
Artists' Reception 6 pm Tuesday, November 5
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

In Homage - Recent Sculptural Works by Alex Palkovich.

Sculpture has always been Alex’s passion. He is a member of the Oxford Arts Society and the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists (RBSA) where for 3 years he also served as Vice President. In 2010, he became the first South Carolinian elected as a member of the National Sculpture Society. He has lived and worked on three continents and in five countries. During that time, he continued to learn and take on new sculptural challenges. Alex’s work is in private and public collections around the world. His sculptures are available to the public in galleries in Carmel, California, Charleston, Brookgreen gardens and Florence, S.C, and Haifa, Israel.

Einstein Relief was accepted into the National Sculpture Society’s 79th Annual in 2012, and On the Way to the Market was exhibiting this year in Artfields at the Tampa Museum,and until 27 September 2013 in Brookgreen Gardens in the National Sculpture Society's 80th Annual Exhibition.

Art Gallery Series
November 12 - 21, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
Opening Reception 6pm Tuesday, November 12

Senior Shows by Graduating FMU Visual Arts Majors
    J. Ellis Arrington
    Chelsea Avant
    Nicholas Barmore
    Xavier Branham
    Courtney Curry
    Stuart Sims

Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.

Art Gallery Series
December 3-12, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Works by Ceramics and Ceramic Sculpture Classes.

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Art Gallery Series
November 25 - December 14, 2013
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
Opening Reception 4:00 pm, November 25

Senior Shows by Graduating FMU Visual Arts Majors.

Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.

Art Gallery Series
January 7 - February 27, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Francis Marion University Faculty Exhibition.

The Department of Fine Arts welcomes you to the Visual Arts faculty exhibit for 2014. Such an exhibition removes the educator from the classroom and celebrates the hands-on process of making art, reminding us that these are producing artists as well as dedicated teachers.

This exhibit presents work of 8 current full time and adjunct faculty. Faculty members regularly showcase their work in national and international exhibitions; the campus exhibit provides the university and local community an opportunity to appreciate the work of these teacher/artists.

The range of work exemplifies the styles and media unique to each artist. These artists provide a strong professional and creative arts education for students.

Lawrence P. Anderson: These small mixed media drawings are studies that address some past interests in composition, surface, shape, and color. My objective is to achieve an active surface texture both literally and aesthetically. The large shapes can be viewed as positive or negative in relation to all the other marks, colors and textures. The viewer can decide which it will be.

Colleen A. Critcher is a visual artist currently fascinated by commodity culture, kitsch, and plastic things. Her current works explore the charming and whimsical objects we call the garden gnome. This most recent series, The Gnome Project, investigates what some may see as menial objects – though the work has revealed a much more powerful significance of objects in contemporary culture. Critcher seeks to dazzle audiences with her careful and often wall-sized portraits of distasteful things. She often includes herself as a character in a bizarre narrative fashion, asking more questions than she chooses to answer.

Howard J. Frye: The mixed media drawing "Skin" is an exploration of surface played against unconventional methods of creating line and variations of white. What I tried to achieve is a drawing that isn't so much drawn in the traditional sense, but rather constructed and developed as one would create a collage. This use of this process created a surface that to me suggests a landscape or body that has been weathered by time.

Greg G. Fry: The goal of this work is to communicate and to be able to build and extend my visual language. My hope is to share the attitudes, history, beliefs, dreams and desires that I have been fortunate enough to see from others and through my own personal history.

Steven F. Gately: As the tropical colors might indicate, the implicit subject in these three abstractions is sea and sky (undoubtedly the influence of having grown up in southeastern Florida). Although I've experimented with three different media (acrylic, watercolor and gouache), I've tried to express with each the fluidity of water and/or the natural force of the ocean.

Douglas E. Gray: The current collection of work is quite varied in approach, however it does reflect my ongoing interest in surface development. Whether using clay or glazes, I am trying to create engaging surfaces that complement the forms on which they exist and that help convey the narratives from which the artwork is generated.

Julie S. Mixon: The images chosen for the faculty exhibit represent the results of photographic techniques used to alter the landscape. While the camera offers the capability to record spaces as they are, I prefer to utilize the camera, often along with post-processing techniques, to transform the landscape. What draws me to these methods is the ability of the camera (along with the photographer's personal vision) to make a representation of a place or object in a way that the human eye cannot."

Walter W. Sallenger: I have included four black and white infrared images, two made using infrared film and traditional darkroom printing on silver gelatin paper, while two were made using a digital camera altered to capture infrared light. In the case of the digital images, multiple images were combined to make extremely wide angle views, a technique made possible by the software available to handle digital images.

Art Gallery Series
March 1-14, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

"Visual Narratives" featuring works by Nina Berman, Bill Frakes and Jim Wallace
Includes exhibit of vintage cameras which changed photojournalism
An Exhibition in conjunction with The Poskito: South Carolina Photography and Video Conference

The Poskito: South Carolina Photography and Video Conference is a Francis Marion University sponsored event, which will be held on campus from March 6 to March 8, 2014. Co-hosted by the Department of Fine Arts and the Department of Mass Communication, the conference will include a variety of activities, including workshops, exhibitions, and talks and panel discussions by well known regional, national, and international photographers, video journalists, and professionals and scholars from related fields.

Each year’s conference will be organized around a theme, issue or question central to the visual arts and/or broadcast and photojournalism. The organizers’ aim is to look at a topic from various perspectives by inviting professionals and scholars of different fields and ideologies to discuss their ideas on the topic. The theme of our inaugural conference will be visual narrative (storytelling).

The conference will consist of three daily sessions. The morning sessions on March 6 and March 7 will feature workshops reserved for the university's visual arts, art education, and mass communication majors, while the afternoon and evening sessions on all three days will be open and free to the public. In addition, a first of its kind, Downtown Florence Art Stroll will be held on Saturday, March 8 from 11 am until 4 pm.

The art stroll will feature public workshops and demonstrations, talks, photo exhibitions and projections, video screenings, children's activities, and live jazz music at various venues, including the Francis Marion University's Performing Arts Center (the suggested starting point for visitors attending the art stroll), the Drs. Bruce and Lee Foundation Library, the Florence County Museum, the Art Trail Gallery, The Clay Pot, Addie's Baby Art and Design Studio in downtown Florence, and the Lynda English Studio Gallery on the 2nd Loop Road.

In conjunction with the conference, Francis Marion University’s Fine Arts Gallery will hold an exhibition entitled "Visual Narratives" featuring photographs by Nina Berman, Bill Frakes, and Jim Wallace, as well as an exhibition of vintage cameras from the "golden age of photojournalism" from March 1 through March 14, 2014.

PLEASE NOTE: Photojournalism can be graphic and disturbing. Some of the images on view may not be suitable for all ages.

Art Gallery Series
March 1-27, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

"Visual Narratives" -- Vintage Cameras Which Changed Photojournalism
An exhibition in conjunction with The Poskito: South Carolina Photography and Video Conference

Art Gallery Series
April 1-16, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

5POINTS: Senior Show by FMU Visual Arts Majors Adam Dial, Brandon Crisp, Blair Felkel, Marcus Raven, and Michael Zedalis

Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.

There will be an opening reception 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Tuesday, April 1.

Art Gallery Series
April 21 - May 3, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

WHICH WAY IS UP?: Senior Show by FMU Visual Arts Majors Amanda Taylor, Marc Lavorgna, Rebeccah Hoekstra, Samantha Isaiah and Drew Kellis.

Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.

There will be an opening reception 5:30-7:00 pm on Monday, April 21.

Art Gallery Series
April 22 - May 1, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Fri
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Works by Ceramics and 3D Design Classes.

A showcase of new works created during the current semester by students learning skills in visual arts classes.

Art Gallery Series
May 12 - August 16, 2014
8:30 am - 5:00 pm Mon-Thur
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Primitive Arts in the Modern World - Greg Pryor.

“There is great wisdom in the native American proverb, ‘A man must make his own arrows.’ Beyond the metaphorical, making arrows in the modern world connects us to the primitive world of our ancestors. Working in a variety of media, I strive to use natural resources to create arrowheads, knives, and spearheads from flint, obsidian, glass, and porcelain. I manufacture and shoot arrows and atlatl darts made from these arrowheads and locally-sourced river cane, pine pitch glue, wild turkey feathers, and deer sinew. I grow, cure, and process gourds into a variety of containers, and make cordage, tools, bags, clothing, and jewelry from wild plant fibers, bone, clay, stone, sinew, rawhide, and brain-tanned hides.”

Greg Pryor is an Associate Professor of Biology at Francis Marion University with a doctorate in Zoology. He is a traditional artist (working in a variety of media), carpenter, construction worker, cook, and amateur musician, and he practices primitive arts such as bow-and-drill firemaking and survival crafts. He likes to live off the land as much as possible and is a self-proclaimed "nature freak."

Notes From the Curator:

Dr. Pryor double majored as an undergraduate in zoology and art. His acrylic paintings, most often of birds, reveal animals interacting with human artifacts, sometimes using them, sometimes existing in a landscape littered by them.

Pryor’s primitive crafts give us insight into the interaction of early humans with the natural world. His crafts also give us an opportunity to consider how art crept into craft, as useful objects came to be decorated, placing the indelible stamp of the artisan on everyday objects.

About the Art Gallery Series

Walter Sallenger, Art Gallery Curator

The Department of Fine Arts sponsors the Art Gallery Series, hosting varied shows of two and three dimensional works showcasing local and regional artists. Exhibits change regularly throughout the academic year.

The mission of the art galleries program is to present exhibitions that support and enhance the academic goals of the visual arts program at Francis Marion University, providing a non-profit institutional setting in the service of society for educational purposes. Under the supervision of the Fine Arts Department faculty, the galleries curator is committed to researching, exhibiting and interpreting for the purpose of study, objects, activities, and documents focused on the visual arts.

Sculptural Display Cases in Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Overview of west end of Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery

Art galleries are located in the Hyman Fine Arts Center. The Fine Arts Center Gallery features large cases along glass walls, allowing three-dimensional works to be displayed and viewed from the outdoor breezeway as well as inside the commons serving the Fine Arts Theatre and Adele Kassab Recital Hall. A lighting grid and configurable display partitions provide a flexible gallery space for two- and three-dimensional works throughout the remainder of the gallery.

Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. At the end of each semester, the galleries also feature works produced by students enrolled in studio art classes. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and general public.

The Galleries Curator then selects among distinguished regional artists to fill out the Art Gallery Series schedule in order to have two- and three-dimensional shows changing regularly throughout the academic year. The gallery serves as the lobby for Kassab Recital Hall and the Fine Arts Theatre, bringing the visual and performing arts together.

Please check the Arts Calendar for more information about film, music and theatre offerings as well as the Art Gallery Series schedule. Gallery hours are typically 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Monday-Friday except during summer session (June-August), when hours are 8:30 am - 5:00 pm Monday-Thursday.

Student Show in University Center Gallery

Portion of a Student Show

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