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Four notable artists will compete in 'Wet Paint'
By Olivia Pool
Special to The Post and Courier
Coleman Fine Art
'Pin Point' by artist Mary Whyte. Coleman Fine Art will host Whyte and three other artists for a plein air 'paint-out' starting Monday.
Redux
Chicago-based artist Benjamin Bellas will be honored during an exhibit opening at 5 p.m. Friday at Redux. A sample of his work is pictured above.
Coleman Fine Art will host four of the country's leading artists for the fifth annual plein air "paint-out" March 24-28. The group of artists will include Daud Akhriev, Marc Hanson, Kate Starling and Mary Whyte. The artists will paint different locations in and around the Charleston area for one week. A reception for the artists and an opportunity to view these paintings will be from 5 to 8 p.m. March 28 at Coleman Fine Art, 79 Church St. The exhibit will remain on view until April 25 and fresh works will be posted to the gallery's Web site daily during the week of the "paint-out." Originally from the former Soviet Union, Daud Akhriev travels the world in search of plein air subjects, but makes his home in Chattanooga, Tenn. Last year, the landscape artist won an award of excellence from the Oil Painters of America and has participated in shows in New York, London, Zurich and Oslo. Marc Hanson, who is visiting from Minnesota, is a plein air artist who works in oil as well as in pastels. His ever-evolving style has captured the attention of collectors around the country. He is a signature member of the Oil Painters of America and a member of The National Academy of Professional Plein Air Painters. Kate Starling lives in the canyons of southern Utah, where she captures hollowed landscapes in oils. Starling has won several competitions in Arizona and California. Mary Whyte is nationally recognized for her figurative paintings of the women of Johns Island. In recent years, Whyte has devoted more time to plein air paintings and landscapes. Whyte's paintings have been exhibited in the nation's most prestigious shows, and her work hangs in numerous private and museum collections. For more information, call the gallery at 853-7000, or visit www.colemanfineart.com.
Factor Prize The Gibbes Museum of Art has announced the finalists for the 2008 Elizabeth and Mallory Factor Prize for Southern Art. "This is the first year of the Factor Prize, which acknowledges an artist whose work demonstrates the highest level of artistic achievement in any media while contributing to a new understanding of art in the South," said Marla Loftus in a prepared statement. Loftus is director of communications at the Gibbes. Artists who work in or who are from Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia were nominated for the Prize online at www.factorprize.org through Feb. 10.
Six panelists reviewed the hundreds of applicants and narrowed the list to seven artists on March 10. The artists selected for the prize's "short list" are Jose Alvarez, Radcliffe Bailey, William Christenberry, Henri Schindler, Philip Simmons, Stacy-Lynn Waddell and Jeff Whetstone. "We're delighted with the scope of artists chosen for the inaugural year of the prize," said Todd Smith, executive director of the Gibbes. "Their work presents a wide array of styles, subjects and approaches." The winner of the 2008 Factor Prize will be announced in May at a ceremony at the Gibbes. Nominations for the 2009 award can be made at www.factorprize.org. The site not only serves as a nomination point for artists, but it is also an archive of information about Southern artists that can be used by curators, collectors, academicians and the public. For more information, contact the Gibbes at 722-2706, ext. 38, or visit www.factorprize.org.
Fusion The John M. Dunnan Gallery will host New York Artist Joanne Thorne Arnold for her opening exhibit, titled "Fusion." Arnold's oil color field paintings will be featured at Friday night's opening from 5:30 to 8:30 at the gallery, 131 King Street, between Queen and Broad. Arnold lives in Binghamton, N.Y., where the skies and the hills of the Southern Tier of New York serve as an inspiration for her work. Josh James of the Dunnan Gallery describes her paintings as "tapestries of color" that have been featured in galleries, and collections throughout the Northeast. When discussing her work, Arnold says, "If you have ever felt the air of a sun-sprayed foggy morning, smelled the earth after a warm rain or bathed in the light of a sunrise, you can understand what it is I am trying to convey. Instead of painting things, I paint the spirit of what we see. Not the actual earth, sea or sky, but the sensation and radiance of atmosphere." For additional information, contact The John Dunnan Gallery at 720-7425 or visit www.johndunnan.com.
Benjamin Bellas Starting Friday night, Redux Contemporary Art Center will be presenting Chicago-based artist Benjamin Bellas' upcoming exhibition, "Greetings From Somewhere Between a Slow Onset Quarter-life Crisis and Fading Off Into My Andre Agassi Days." "Through poetic narratives, Bellas unexpectedly relocates autobiographical moments of enmity, longing and uncomfortable honesty in banal visual forms," Executive Director Seth Curcio says of Bellas' work. "By transforming everyday objects into sometimes-humorous icons of his most intimate life experiences, his work can be seen as a high-wire balancing act between intellect and emotion that manifests itself as a synthesis of the Humanities. "For his exhibition at the Redux Contemporary Art Center, Bellas will explore moments in our existence that shape our relationship to the modern pursuits of enlightenment, purpose and personal meaning," says Curcio. There will be a reception from 5-8 p.m. Friday at Redux Contemporary Art Center, 136 St. Philip St. The works will be on display until April 26. For information, contact Redux at 722-0697 or visit www.reduxstudios.org.
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