Josef Berliner’s “Black and Blues” Collection Now Featured in the Jasper Galleries’ Nook

Reception

Thursday March 21st

5:30 - 7 pm

The Nook at the Koger Center for the Arts

The Jasper Project is proud to welcome Josef Berliner as our new artist-in-residence in the Nook, our gallery location in the Koger Center for the Arts. The opening reception for his show coincides with March’s Third Thursday—the 21st—and goes from 5:30 to 7 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public.

Dedicated to making the world a more beautiful place “one canvas at a time,” Josef has held the drive to create art since he was a child. His artistic journey grew with every gifted sketchpad and drawing pencil, until he got to college where he double majored in Theatre and Studio Art.

Josef affixes the signature “Jobey” to his paintings; in Josef’s words, “Jobey is the more outgoing and confident alter ego. Behind the mask is a thoughtful, somewhat shy, and introspective artist.” His confidence as an artist shines through with each portrait in the exhibition, all focused on different Black women musicians who helped shape the blues and jazz scenes.

Josef has been recognized as a contributor to many charitable causes, always willing to give of himself as much as possible. He has been cited for his participation in organizations such as Bullets and Band-Aids, the USC Department of Dance Gala (in which he also serves as a board member), the Atlantic Institute, and was most recently honored as a featured artist for the Artists for Africa winter event.

He works predominantly in oil on canvas, with a keen eye for detail and the innate ability to look far deeper than the mere surface, all the while seeking for a level of perfection that, while perhaps unattainable, is indeed his ultimate and far-reaching goal.

Koger Center’s Third Thursday Lineup in the Nook Kicks Off with Wilma King

It’s a new calendar year, which means a brand-new lineup of talented artists from the Midlands will decorate the walls of each Jasper Gallery location. In the Nook at the Koger Center, Wilma King is the opening artist. King is a South Carolina native who endeavors to combine her experiences of living around the United States with her educational background into a visual storytelling collaboration through her painting.

King’s featured exhibit in the Nook is titled Love Heals: The Margins and Time In-Between. This body of work expands upon her Love Heals collection, which debuted at our Bernie Love Valentine’s Day event in 2023. The addendum includes 14 new works and received funding by the South Carolina Arts Commission’s Emerging Artist Grant. King notes that the pieces are a “series of montages comprised of memories of two generations before and after [her] -- thus, the time ‘in-between.’” She highlights the dreams, hopes, and desires of individuals at different stages of their lives while facing different obstacles like cancer or mental illness. Much of the subject matter derives from King’s own memories of adolescence and the relationships she fostered with her family. No moment is too small or grand for King to make compelling subject matter. Memories and storytelling often mesh to create a brand-new path for her work to take.

The opening reception will be held from 5:30 – 7 p.m. on January 18, 2024, on the Grand Tier Lobby of the Koger Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Excerpt from Wilma King’s Artist statement:

“I tell stories of my parents, their lifetimes, their influences. There are memories of me playing with my grandfather Manuel’s gold pocket watch; wallpapering the walls of my aunt Sedonia’s house (which was destroyed by a Louisiana storm last year); me ritually painting my mother’s nails; or dancing like nobody’s watching just to keep my cousin upbeat during her last few months!

We all have turning points in our lives -- some are cataclysmic. But I believe that the persistent, more powerful triggers are those that are slow, unforgettable images, sometimes rising out of nowhere, that quietly give us a heartfelt thump. Words are not needed, but touches, smells, soft sounds, and even tastes lend to the very intimate and secret thoughts that we hold close inside. These moments are the perfect companionship and fulfillment – a very pure form of love and loveliness – for whatever voids we need or want to fill. Although faceted, these “ordinary” and “frequent” thoughts and memories are what I wish to capture in my art.

I usually rely on memories, and sometimes collaborative storytelling with family and friends. Most often, the fusion of these memories and recollections are didactic approaches manifested in the art that I enjoy creating. I fully enjoy the outcomes as I see the bits and pieces of the storytellers’ realities and attempts to bring the pieces together in a relationship-building effort and artwork.”

— Emily Moffitt

Jasper Presents Acclaimed Artist Stephen Chesley for Third Thursday Art Night at The Nook - September 21st

Please join the Jasper Project as we welcome acclaimed visual artist Stephen Chesley to Jasper’s little corner of the Koger Center — The Nook — a rotating 2nd floor gallery space for featuring some of the best of the Midlands visual artists.

According to Chesley, “This exhibition is the result of ghost prints from direct painting in a variant style of Sumi Japanese ink drawings. The inclusion of an Asian aesthetic in the manner of Zen brush drills is to obtain emotional content through understanding abstraction of tone and form. The sheer thousands in volume of process has the intent of teaching one's understanding of autography and brushstroke. The yin-yang of black and white references balance of nature embellished with concepts of summary outline and simultaneous contrast set forth by Ogden Rood's 1879 color treatise notably embraced by George Seurat.”

Sumi-e, which means back ink painting, is typically described as art created in monochrome with the use of sumi ink and handmade paper.

Chesley goes on to say that, “Images in this exhibition are a unique hybrid of direct painting and printmaking. Elements of mysticism in these works emanate from ideas of forerunners Morris Graves, Paul Gauguin, Walter Anderson, and George Inness, who all sought to reveal the spirit world always before us.”

Chesley continues, “These figure ground pieces present and lyrical and poetic rendering of the gift of the sublime ordinary found in life and nature. All life, both animate and inanimate, is in consideration of treatises of physics including: Big Bang, singularity, and concepts of deep time. It is apparent that we share atoms with all things and that there is unfathomable structure and connection that is universal, timeless, and infinite. Human sentience is not the only sentience. As we look at landscapes, trees, animals, plants, waves, clouds, and stars, we look at ourselves.”

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 pastels and pencils, 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 it was still a seasonal seaside resort. Self-motivated, he continued with his drawing and small paintings along with exposure to local artists. 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. He continues his creative journey with an art spirit in Columbia, SC.

We are delighted to welcome Stephen Chesley to The Nook and invite you to view his work throughout September and October, and to join us for a small reception Thursday, September 21st from 5:30 - 7 pm.