Artist - MTC Graduate Anthony Lewis
In an exciting partnership with Harbison Theatre at Midlands Technical College, Jasper is pleased to announce a series of art exhibitions in the Harbison Theatre lobby’s gallery space.
Last year, the Jasper Project worked with Harbison Theatre to exhibit several shows, beginning with Camden native and retired educator Keith Tolen’s work. Having enjoyed the collaboration so much we have developed a full season of exhibitions for the 2019-2020 art season, which started with the installation of the Supper Table in early September and runs through summer 2020.
Beginning with the continued exhibition of Kirkland Smith’s Supper Table Portraits, which will remain on display until early November, we follow up with an exhibition by photographer Kathryn Van Aernum titled Common Ground.
A Young Sara Leverette by Kirkland Smith
Van Aernum’s photographic subjects range from the mundane to the sublime, and she continues to cultivate a sense of spaciousness, curiosity, humor and wonder in her work through the exploration of themes such as Reclamation; Ubiquity (her CocaCola® series); and Common Ground. While photography is her main medium, she is also an accomplished watercolorist, mixed media and book artist. She teaches classes in photography, creative process, watercolor, and journal making. Her work has appeared in juried competitions, and group and solo exhibits in Key West, FL; Boulder, CO; Fort Collins, CO; Ann Arbor, MI; and Columbia, Spartanburg and Lake City, SC. and is in many private collections throughout the US. Most recently, she was one of 19 Columbia artists whose work was juried into ArtFields 2019. Find her on the web at KvanaStudios.com KathrynVanAernum.com.
About This show Van Aernum says, “Most of the images in Common Ground were gathered on my morning and evening walks with my dog Noah. I live in Midlands Terrace in Columbia, but he and I will frequently hop in the car and walk in other neighborhoods for a change of scenery. There are a few photos from other SC locations, and a 2018 trip to Greece. Living in a city, man-made surfaces are the predominant element I come in contact with. With no sandy beaches, mountains, or vast vistas for inspiration, I often look down to the ground. As I allowed pavement, asphalt, cobblestones and concrete to become my muses, abstract “paintings” created by the interaction of time, weather, earth and humans began to reveal themselves. All the artificial terrains portrayed have one thing in common: to facilitate human flow and interaction. What I hope to offer here is a surprising, whimsical, striking, and maybe even beautiful meditation on the surfaces we share in common.”
Jasper and Harbison Theatre will celebrate the opening of Van Aernum’s exhibit on Friday, November 15th at 6 pm in conjunction with a stellar performance by Motown Superstar Thelma Houston. (Reception – free; Concert tickets at harbisontheatre.org.)
Artist Kathryn Van Aernum from the Common Ground collection
Following the Van Aernum exhibition, acclaimed artist Stephen Chesley’s art will be exhibited in January and February 2020, with an opening reception on January 24th, 2020 at 6 pm in conjunction with a performance by Akintunde and Joey I.L.O.
Stephen Chesley was born in Schenectady, New York in 1952. He exhibited a natural proclivity for drawing and art almost as soon as he could hold pastel and pencil which were often Christmas gifts from his family. Growing up in Virginia Beach in the late 1950s he was exposed to the Beat Generation of musicians, artists, and writers when Virginia Beach was still a seasonal seaside resort. Self motivated, he continued with his drawing and small paintings along with exposure to local artists throughout elementary and high school and into college. His collegiate exposure led to a meld of art and science with degrees in Urban Studies and a Masters Degree in Urban Planning in 1980 from the school of Architecture at Clemson University. Graduating in a deep national economic recession Chesley turned back to his art. Spending 5 years on rivers and sea islands to explore his asthetic, subject matter, influential painters, and styles, Chesley’s paintings and art work began to move to the foreground. Recognized in 1981 by the Columbia Museum of Art as an emerging talent, he went on to win top 100 in the first National Parks competition of 1987, exhibiting at the Smithsonian, and in 1996 a National Endowment for the Arts, Southeast Regional Fellowship, Southeast Center for Contemporary Art. Chesley has continued his work, characterized as poetic realism, along with welded and carved sculptural pieces in addition to joint works illustrating Archibald Rutledge short stories and WS Merwin’s poem, ”Palm” for the Thomas Cooper Society’s Thomas Cooper Medal for WS Merwin in 2012.
Stephen Chesley
Arts photographer Kevin Kyzer will exhibit in March and April, 2020 with an opening reception on March 21st, 2020 in conjunction with the wildly popular MTC Show-Off.
Artist Kevin Kyzer’s photo of dancers Claire Richards Rapp and Bonnie Boiter-Jolley
Anthony Lewis is an emerging self-taught visual artist and a resident of Columbia, South Carolina. Anthony was born in raised in Camden, NJ. The owner of Alewisproject,LLC, Lewis will exhibit in May and June 2020.
Anthony Lewis
And closing out the season we will be featuring Ginny Merett. Ginny currently uses collage techniques to create portraits and figurative works of art that are best described as a mix of surrealism and whimsy. Ginny’s work has won several awards and accolades. She is the cover and featured artist in The Jasper Magazine Spring 2019 edition; and received First Place and Second Place Awards at the Rosewood Art and Music Festival, Best in Show at Time for Art sponsored by the Jasper Project; and participated in Women Speak Art Gallery at SC State Library 2017, Artfields 2019, and numerous other exhibits.
Women in Hats by Ginny Merett
Information on artists talks and additional opening receptions are TBD. Stay tuned to www.JasperProject.org and https://www.harbisontheatre.org/ for updates and information.