Seize the Clay – A Survey of Ceramic Educator Works to Open Nov. 2nd
SEIZE THE CLAY
A Survey of Ceramic Educator Work
Curated by Brenau University Ceramics Professor, Huy Chu
Seize the Clay, which opens November 2nd at 5:30 PM in Brenau University’s Sellars Gallery, is an immersive survey of ceramic art that celebrates the exceptional works crafted by passionate Art Educators hailing from the Southeastern region. These dedicated individuals are on a journey to unlock the boundless potential of the versatile clay medium, channeling its power to inspire, advance, and educate.
This compelling collective showcase not only celebrates the limitless versatility of clay but also brings to light the diverse techniques employed in shaping this fundamental material. Each artist adeptly wields an array of skills, including hand-building and wheel throwing, often interweaving clay with discovered materials, resulting in a seamless blend of creativity melding natural and man-made elements.
Mike Bowen
The artworks on display encompass a diverse range of glazing and firing techniques, spanning from the delicate intricacies of raku firing to the intense rawness of salt kiln firing. These artist educators embark on bold experiments with porcelain, high fire stoneware and a variety of glazes, resulting in the creation of a vibrant tapestry of textures and a rich spectrum of colors. Notably, some artists merge ceramic materials with found objects, as exemplified by the innovative work of Mike Bowen, a Sculpture Professor at Morehead State University. Bowen, residing in Morehead, Kentucky, deftly blends ceramics, wood, mixed media, and found objects, accentuating the juxtaposition between industrial and organic elements.
Alex Kaft
Among the featured artists, Alex Kraft, a ceramics professor at the University of North Georgia, constructs intricate tableaus that interlace layers of memories and sensory reflections, transcending specific details and meanings. Her work gracefully straddles the line between abstraction and semi-abstract realism, often adorned with recognizable symbols and “nouns,” yet maintaining a narrative ambiguity that beckons interpretation.
Diana Farfan
Many works within the exhibition explore the human figure as the central subject. Artists like Diana Farfán, originally from Bogotá, Colombia and now residing in Greenville, South Carolina, prominently feature the figure in her work.
Farfán, who also serves as an adjunct professor at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, creates sculptures that exude childlike whimsy while simultaneously sparking contemplation about politics and the environment.
In addition to her ceramic practice, Farfán is an active participant in local Latino cultural organizations and an advocate for environmental causes.
Angel Estrella, a professor at the University of North Georgia, is another educator who skillfully incorporates the human figure into her creations. Estrella explores the concept of human vulnerability, aiming to elicit empathy in viewers while emphasizing the materiality of the human body as a means to forge connections with others. Her art takes a unique approach by utilizing fragmentation, crafting headless and armless figures to remove identity and encourage viewers to contemplate their own embodiment.
Angel Estrada
Jennifer Graff, an artist based in Athens, Georgia and a professor at the University of North Georgia, delves into both functional and figurative concepts in clay. Her functional pottery pieces narrate a myriad of interactions between characters, with a humorous yet thought-provoking approach that confronts some of the less flattering aspects of human nature.
Jennifer Graff
Jennifer Graff
Renee Rouillier
The Sculptures of South Carolina artist Renee Rouillier predominantly center on the profound environmental transformations
taking place and the adverse consequences they inflict on the Earth and its wildlife. Much of this upheaval results from human apathy and negligence. This truth was starkly underscored during the initial year of the pandemic when mandatory isolation was enforced. During this period, wildlife reveled in boundless freedom, serving as a vivid reminder that animals can not only endure, but also thrive in the absence of human presence, a balance not reciprocated by humanity.
This captivating exhibition also spotlights the works of several other accomplished artists such as Dr. Patricia Burd, Jessica Bowden, Allison Broom, Allen Chen, Huy Chu, Amy Henke, Leslie Hinton, Lester Martin, Veronica Martin, Lyndrid Patterson, Mary Jane Taylor, Ben Trusdale, Michael Valley, Josh Vincent, Erica Watson and Miki Waldrop, each bringing their unique perspective and creativity to the world of ceramics.
Brenau University Galleries Launches FREE ART FRIDAYS, giving away artwork created by local artists, creative alumni, staff, faculty and students to anyone finding the artwork placed around campus
Open Studio Figure Drawing Sessions to begin Monday, Sept. 18th 4:30 PM
What: Monday Evening Open Studio Figure Drawing Sessions
When: September 18, 2023 @ 4:30 pm – 7:00 pm and every 1st and 3rd Monday of the month.
Simmons Visual Arts Center, 200 Boulevard, Gainesville, Ga. 30501
Contact: Gena Robbins 770-534-6181
The first session is Monday the 18th of September.
Session begins promptly at 4:30PM and lasts until 7PM. Several quick gesture warm ups, short and long poses.
- No need to pay in advance, you may pay at the door.
- Model Provided
- All major credit cards, Venmo and PayPal are taken.
- 14 easels provided.
- Cost is 15.00 dollars and 5.00 dollars for students.
What to bring:
- a drawing board
- drawing paper, sketch pad or other surfaces,
- painting or drawing/sketching mediums and tools.
Location: Simmons Visual Arts Center, Sellars Gallery, located to the right of Pearce Theater (Glass doors) 1st floor. 200 Boulevard, Gainesville, Ga.
Gainesville Times writes article, features Brenau exhibiting artist, Maggie Evans
This Savannah artist was nearly killed in a cycling accident. Now, she’s having a solo art exhibit at Brenau
Ben Anderson
The Times
Updated: Sep 1, 2023, 6:10 PM
Published: Sep 1, 2023, 1:19 PM
In April last year, Savannah artist Maggie Evans was struck from behind by a speeding pickup truck while bicycling back from Wilmington Island along a marshy stretch of road. She was flung 130 feet from her bike and woke up several days later in a hospital with no memory of what had happened. Her lungs and liver had been lacerated. Both of her wrists had been crushed. Her collarbone, hip and toe were broken.
Several vertebrae in her spine had been fractured or ruptured.
“They weren’t sure if I was going to make it or what sort of condition I would be in if I made it,” she told The Times.
Now, Evans — a professor at Savannah College of Art and Design, a competitive cyclist and a singer and bass player in a jazz band — is back in the saddle, back on the stage and back in the gallery.
She debuted her solo exhibit, Parallel Narratives, Thursday evening at Brenau University’s Leo Castelli Gallery in the John S. Burd Performing Arts Center, which will be on display until Nov. 16.
Savannah Artist Maggie Evans jams for a bit on the bass guitar prior to her exhibition opening Thursday, Aug. 31, 2023, at Brenau University’s John S. Burd Center for the Performing Arts. – photo by Scott Rogers
Like much of her artwork, which straddles the line between contemporary realism and surrealism, Parallel Narratives explores universal aspects of human nature from a detached perspective, focusing in particular on the tension between “individuality versus the need to be part of a group,” she told The Times.
Despite Evans’ focus on human nature, you won’t see any humans in her artwork.
“You’ll see chairs in different arrangements, and it allows us to kind of look at our social interactions from a broader perspective,” she explained. “By keeping it kind of vague, it allows everyone to bring their own experiences to the piece, and kind of like realize that we’re all doing the same things even though they feel very personal to us.”
Evans holds a master’s degree in fine arts and has completed residencies in Georgia, Texas and China. She has displayed her art in 16 solo exhibits, over 50 national shows, and has received a number of awards, including the 2017 Western Bureau Art Prize and the Best in Category (installation/3D) Award at Artfields 2018.
Parallel Narratives will feature oil paintings, drawings and an installation piece made of about 300 tiny chairs painted with a gradation of values.
Brenau Galleries hosts rotating exhibitions featuring works by local, regional, national and international artists, as well as the works by Brenau students, faculty and alumni.
“It’s Evans’ sheer grit and resilient spirit to push forward, to heal and to come back from such incredible odds that is so inspiring,” said Brenau Galleries Director Gena Robbins. “I met Maggie while enrolled in (Savannah College of Art and Design’s) painting MFA program, and admired her drive and impressive talent for not only her drawing and painting mastery, but how brilliant she was at juggling her academic responsibilities with her many other talents, such as playing bass and being a lead singer in a jazz band. She is a true Renaissance woman.”
Maggie Evan’s Parallel Narratives will be on view until Nov. 16th in Leo Castelli Gallery at the Burd Performing Arts Center, Brenau University, Gainesville, Ga.
The Castelli Gallery is open from 10-4 PM M-TH. Tours are also available
Contact Gena Robbins for more information at 770-534-6181 or email gallery@brenau.edu.
Solo Exhibition by Chris Boyko to be Held in President’s Gallery in September
Explore the bizarre, strange and unusual world of local Gainesville, Ga. artist, Chris Boyko.
Boyko’s surrealistic works will be on view during his solo exhibition at Brenau University’s Presidents Gallery located on the 2nd floor of the Simmon’s Visual Art’s Center, Sept. 14th – Nov. 28th, 2023. An artist talk will be given by Boyko during the artist reception at 6PM, Sept.14th. Artist reception is from 5:30-7 PM.
Each one of Boyko’s paintings unveils the hidden realities within the human mind.
“The subconscious is constructed like a giant web, which as a whole, creates an individual, states Boyko. If one were to examine each individual piece, they would realize it’s composed of multiple ideas, memories and feelings which are constantly shifting. It’s this shift within our subconscious that changes our perception of reality. It’s why each of us can respond differently to a multitude of situations.”
Using automatic painting techniques, Boyko’s mind enters a meditative state.
“As I begin to follow the strings of the subconscious web, the organic forms develop within the painting – one form leads to another, like a trail of thoughts, Boyko explains. It’s as if my mind and the paint are in sync with each other, for while I explore my own mind, gaining an understanding of myself; I’m also gaining an understanding of the forms.”
Chris Boyko graduated from Kennesaw State University, receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts (B.F.A.) degree in Visual Art. He participates in national and international exhibitions along with charity art events in and around community.
Chris has exhibited in multiple group and solo exhibitions throughout his career including a solo show at the Peachtree Branch Library, located across the street from The High Museum of Art. Group shows include Kibee Gallery, Atlanta, Ga., The Studio Door in San Diego and The Creative Soul: Art & The 9 Levels of Self at the Life Force Arts Center in Chicago.
Online magazines like ARTicul ACTION have published interviews in regards to his artwork.
Bonko strongly believes in aiding the community. He volunteers and donates his artwork to numerous local charity art auctions. Hambadge Art Auction at the Goat Farm and Toy Party, For the Kid in All of Us are just two of the charity auctions he participates in. He enjoys giving back to the community that supports his artistic endeavors.
Maggie Evans to speak on her art, rehabilitation from life altering cycling accident
Maggie Evans will be speaking at the Thurmond McRae Lecture Hall.
Wednesday, August 30th, @ 11:45 AM.
She will also be having a solo show at Leo Castelli Gallery in the Burd Performing Arts Center Aug. 31- Nov. 16th.
Opening Reception, Thursday, Aug. 31st @ 5:30 PM. Live Performance by the Atlanta based Bourbon Brothers Jazz Band. (Free and Open to the Public)
Scad Foundations Professor, Maggie Evans will be having her first major solo exhibition at Brenau University in Gainesville, GA since being hit while training for a cycling competition on a long stretch of highway in Savannah, Ga.
After a grueling year- long string of surgeries, rehabilitation, enduring a body cast and having been in a wheel chair… Maggie Evans is experiencing life again to its fullest. Evans is cycling again, singing and playing the bass again in her band, and is now back in the saddle, exhibiting her artwork in solo shows.
Born in Texas and raised in the mountains of Utah, Maggie Evans is a creative powerhouse. She was formally trained as a classical pianist, studied French horn in high school and discovered bass as a teenager in her brother’s punk band. She later added voice studies to the list while pursuing an MFA in painting at Savannah College of Art and Design where she is now an adjunct professor in foundations. Her obsession with Brazil and its music has been a key factor in shaping her sound-her voice and is constantly compared to that of Astrud Gilberto. As a bassist, she has worked with countless groups in many styles but Maggie specializes in the music of Latin America: Salsa, Latin Jazz, Bossa Nova, etc.
In addition to her work as a musician and teacher, Maggie has a career as a gallery artist. She holds the BFA in Illustration from Utah State University and an MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design. For 2011-2012 she was awarded a position as a visiting scholar at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China. See Maggie’s website for more information.
Maggie Evans current work uses painting, drawing and installation to examine human social structures and the internal struggle between the need for individuality and the need for inclusion.
Maggie has shown her work in sixteen solo exhibits, over fifty national group/juried shows and has received a number of awards including the 2017 Western Bureau Art Prize (San Jose, CA) and the Best in Category (installation/3D) Award at Artfields 2018 (Lake City, SC). Reviews and publications include The Washington Post, New American Paintings and the upcoming INPA 10 by Manifest Gallery Press. Artist residencies include The Hambidge Center for the Arts (GA) and Central Trak (TX) as well as a full fellowship to the Vermont Studio Center. In 2011 she was awarded a Chinese Government Scholarship that granted her ten months to develop new work at the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou, China. She has been invited to lecture on her work at a number of institutions including Indiana-Purdue University and the University of Texas, Dallas. Maggie holds an MFA in Painting from the Savannah College of Art and Design (2008) where she is currently a part-time Professor of Foundation Studies.
Hunt Slonem’s Painting “Looming” on Loan at the Courtyard Marriott in Downtown Gainesville
Brenau University Galleries is pleased to announce that it has decided to Loan one of 76 Hunt Slonem paintings within Brenau University’s extensive Permanent Art Collection to the new Courtyard Marriott located in the heart of Downtown Gainesville, GA. The painting will be on loan for a year with an option to renew the loan each year.
The 8 x 6 foot painting of colorful butterflies, titled, Looming, has been installed on a prominent wall of the 2nd floor lobby along with other local and regional artists. Jeff Payne, owner of the new Marriott with Liz Barr of Artist Resource, worked with Director of Galleries, Gena Brodie Robbins to organize and finally install the piece.
The Courtyard Marriott will be having its Grand Opening on Sept. 7th, 2023 and will also feature several additional works from the Brenau University Permanent Art Collection by artists, Winnie Gier, William Thompson, and LeeAnn White to be displayed in the Vault Gallery, a new event space located in a historic 1930’s building just across the street and diagonal from the Marriott.
Read more about Hunt Slonem Below and watch a video or two on his life, his works and his incredible Showroom and studio in NYC. Videos are published on Youtube by CBS Sunday Morning and Open House NYC.
HUNT SLONEM OPEN HOUSE NYC
View the Hunt Slonem Showroom and his incredible collection of Top hats, harps, plants and 65 pet parrots!
HUNT SLONEM CBS SUNDAY MORNING
Can you pick out the works that are now part of the Brenau University Permanent Art Collection? Many of these works are displayed throughout the Downtown Center and the East Campus Occupational Therapy Wing.
Hunt Slonem, born in Kittery, Maine in 1951, is an American artist best known for his “maximalist” paintings of wildlife exotica —most famously birds, rabbits and butterflies, drawing inspiration from the spiritual and natural worlds. Slonem repeats these motifs on an epic scale in an act of visual and artistic mantra, rendered through loose, gestural brushwork. His figures dissolve into rhythmic patterns at the edges of abstraction, creating symphonies of color, line and form across a highly textural canvas. The painting Looming, on loan from Brenau University’s Permanent Art Collection, is a prime example of his repeated butterfly motif, an element used in many of his works, painted in a bold expressive style.
According to Slonem, the repetitive imagery is a reference to Andy Warhol: “I was influenced by Warhol’s repetition of soup cans and Marilyn, but I’m more interested in doing it in the sense of prayer … it’s really a form of worship.” Slonem’s deep interest in nature, its jungle creatures, and his own 60 pet birds are reflected in his choice of subject matter. “I’m exhilarated by nature, including birds, plants and butterfly forms that most people don’t even know exist. I collected all of those things when I was an exchange student in Nicaragua, and caught my first morpho butterfly, which is an exquisite iridescent blue when I was 16. I think my art comes from being born somehow conscious of other realms, which is what the divine is all about. I grew orchids as a child, and have long recognized that orchids and birds come from those places as a gift to humanity.”
Slonem has also received critical acclaim for his restorations of national historic monuments, including gilded age mansions and antebellum plantations, which the artist saves from neglect and fills with installations combining his work with collections of 19th century antiques.
Slonem has exhibited the world-over and has had over 350 shows, including 20 museum exhibitions. He has exhibited in the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Airo foundation, and the New Orleans Museum of Art. He has also had a special exhibitions with the National Museum of Art in Kiev and the Odessa Museum of Eastern and Western art. Slonem’s works are in public and private collections all over the world, including Brenau University in Gainesville, GA, who has received over 75 hunt Slonem paintings and sculptures.
Hunt Slonem lives and works in his art studios located in both New York City and Louisiana.
The Bourbon Brothers Band to Perform Live at the Opening Reception of Maggie Evans: Parallel Narratives Solo Exhibition
This is one event you will not want to miss!!!
Brenau University Galleries is Proud to announce that The Bourbon Brothers Band, based out of Atlanta, Georgia will be performing at the Opening Reception of the Maggie Evans: Parallel Narratives, Solo Exhibition.
What: Maggie Evans: Parallel Narratives Opening Reception and Artist Talk- Featuring The Bourbon Brother’s Band
When: Thursday, August 31st, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Where: The Bourbon Brothers Live Performance will be held in the Red Wine Lobby of the John S. Burd Performing Arts Center located at 429 Academy Street in Gainesville, GA.
Click image above to Hear The Bourbon Brothers Perform
Learn more about The Bourbon Brothers Band and what kind of Jazz and other types of music they play.
Maggie Evans’ Exhibition, Parallel Narratives will be held in Leo Castelli Gallery also located in the John S. Burd Performing Arts Center just a few feet away from the Redwine Lobby.
The artist will also be giving an artist talk around 6 PM about her life a work in the Redwine Lobby of the John S. Performing Arts Center just a few feet away from the Leo Castelli Gallery.
Serving complimentary Wine, Bubbly and Hors d’ Oeuvres
This event is free and open to the public.
Leggett Collection and other Highlights from the Brenau University Permanent Collection on View at Sellars Gallery in August 2023
View Brenau University’s Newest Acquisition of Works, The Leggett Collection, and other Highlights from the Brenau University Permanent Collection, August 17th – October 12th, 2023 at Sellars Gallery, Simmons Visual Art Center, Brenau University.
The Leggett Collection, donated by Robert and Dee Leggett, will be on view with other works highlighted from the Brenau University Permanent Collection, August 17th – October 12th, 2023 in Sellars Gallery at Simmons Visual Arts Center, Brenau University.
The Leggett Collection consists of a powerful collection of oils, watercolors and pastel paintings rendered in a masterful realistic style. Each artist within the collection has won multiple awards and is widely collected. Artist’s such as Burt Silverman, who has shown his work throughout the United States and internationally, including, the National Portrait Gallery, the National Academy of Design Annual, the Mexico City Museum of Art, the Delaware Art Museum, and the Royal Academy in London, are among the artists in this impressive collection.
Silverman has paintings in major private and public collections including those of the Brooklyn Museum, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Butler Institute of American Art, the Denver Art Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.
Burt Silverman, Trattoria, oil on canvas, 29.5 x 23.8 inches, 1995
In the painting, Trattoria, by Burt Silverman, above, a dark haired man with a receding hairline sits alone on a wood chair at a table looking slightly to his left. His dark eyes set under dark brows stare ahead. His lips are closed. Light and shadow model his facial features. His hands sit on the table and fold over his crumpled napkin. A beaker–style glass of red wine sits in front of him, untouched. He is wearing a suit jacket and tie looking outward in deep thought. On the wall behind him are the bottom portions of pictures, their content hidden from the viewer by the boundaries of the composition. On the table, to his right, are a knife and fork place setting. To his left, in the background, is an empty a table with glasses and a flask.
Other works within the collection are by artists such as: Lucia de Leiris , Kate (Katherine) Doyle, Jacqueline Gnott, Jeffrey Martin, Bobbie McKibbon, Roger Medearis, Jane Mihalik, and Dale Wilson Kennington.
Dale Wilson Kennington, Each and Every Tuesday, oil on canvas, 47.5 x 59.5 inches
Dale Wilson Kennington, originally from Georgia, but spending much of her life in Alabama, is known for her paintings depicting Southern traditions through settings and figures. Her paintings reflect the artist’s interpretations of social conventions. Her realistically portrayed figures are “types” that make up the communities she created in her works.
Kennington attended Huntingdon College in Birmingham, Alabama and the University of Alabama. After a hiatus from art, she returned to painting through portraiture; this led her to explore the figure and human interactions in her subject matter. From there she moved to portrayals of large–scale vignettes of real life, such as seen in the subject painting. Her work has been classified as “New American Realism” for its contemporary approach to the naturalistic depictions of figures and their various locations.
Kennington’s paintings have been included in exhibitions at the National Women’s Museum, the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Butler Museum of American Art, the Columbus Museum, the Huntsville Museum of Art, and the Mississippi Museum of Art, among others. Her work has also been included in the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies program.
In the front foreground of this interior setting is a round table covered with a cloth and set for tea with napkins, cups, and plates. A small vase of red flowers sits in the middle of the table. Two chairs with rounded backs are pushed under the table. The room includes several other tables, one being cleared by wait staff, another partially set in the center left and another in the back left with two women seated and in conversation. Lamps with lampshades are enclose both sides of the image. The artist uses a soft focus on all parts of the room and the figures. In the distance, there is even a less distinct focus on the trees and bushes outside the windows that extend across the back wall of the room.
The Leggett Collection will be open to view from 10-4 PM Monday – Thursday at Sellar’s Gallery August 17 – October 12th, 2023.
Free and Open to the Public.
Open Studio Figure Drawing Now At Brenau Galleries
Open Figure Drawing Session
About this EventCome draw with us in Brenau University’s spacious Sellars Gallery! We will have a model for the full 3 hours during which participants can practice their figure drawing at their own pace, work on incorporating a figure into an existing piece, or however they’d like to use their time! Director of Galleries, Gena Brodie Robbins – who is a practicing artist and former art professor – will facilitate the session and offer any desired feedback or support. Brenau Galleries will provide standing easels and chairs, and recommends that participants bring drawing tools, boards and surfaces of their choice to the session. The session will include a series of short poses (1 – 5min) as well as some longer poses (10 – 20min) and one long 30 minute pose. 5 to 10 minute breaks throughout session.
WHAT WHEN WHERE:
General Public- Cost: $15.00. Brenau Students- Cost: $5.00
Payment taken at the door.
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*This Open Drawing Session is open to all 18 and above. The figure model will be partially clothed or partially draped for the duration of the drawing session. Space limited.
Brenau University Galleries reserves the right to cancel any session due to low enrollment or other circumstances. In this case, you can request a tuition refund. No refunds will be issued for days missed due to illness, family travel, or any no-show of any kind.