Four Guys and a Gallery

(Above: Article as it appears in the January edition of Lake Murray Carolina Magazine. Click image to enlarge.)


Four Guys and a Gallery
By Rachel Haynie
Photography By Anne McQuary, Hey Baby Smile

Four friends, all artists, will regroup for their eight annual combined show at Gallery 80808 this month.

Stephen Chesley, Mike Williams, Edward Wimberly and David Yaghjian will pack a power display of paintings, sculptures, monotypes and other media Jan. 25 - Feb. 5. This union of like souls began long ago. Chesley first admired Wimberly's art when the two were students at Clemson University (then College.) "Edward was painting in the fine art studio in the same building my architecture classes were, but we didn't meet until later," Chesley says. Now, he often drives to Wimberly's St. Matthews studio to see what portrait commissions are in progress and to share a cup of coffee and a visit. A longtime family friend, Chesley has been an uncle-figure to Wimberley's children.

Later, Chesley was colleagues with David Yaghjian at Vista Studios, where they swapped critiques and encouragement daily. Mike Williams was another Vista Studios artist. "I miss the camaraderie of being down there," says Williams, who moved his large-scale projects to a roomier studio in West Columbia.

But the friends are still in contact. "Fortunately, I get to see David at (Shandon Presbyterian) church nearly every week," says Williams. "And Stephen is like my second pair of hands when I have an installation to make." Stephen Chesley's experience in construction comes in handy when Williams needs to move and install one of his heroic-size sculptures.

"There is a trust among us all," says Williams. "Getting ready for this winter show every year is a chance to take stock of what we've been doing all year. I am so comfortable knowing we all will show up with interesting, quality work."

Since last year's Gallery 80808 show, Williams and Chesley have presented one-man shows at the Cheryl Newby Gallery on Pawleys' Island and Burroughs-Chapin Gallery in Myrtle Beach, respectively. Yaghjian was part of a group show at the Greenville County Museum of Art. The late Mark Coplan collected works by Williams and Yaghjian (exhibited through March at the State Museum) and Chesley (in private collections).

Since Wimberley's primary focus is portrait commissions, joing his friends for this annual show is a rare venture beyond his own studio, and a chance to produce something entirely different. The upcoming show will feature Wimberly's evocative and symbolic surrealist paintings, Williams sculpture and new abstract landscapes, Chesley's brooding landscapes (now larger-scale than before), and Yaghjian's latest age-confrontational paintings and new suite of monotypes.


(Above: Second page of article as it appears in the magazine. Click image to enlarge.)

To visit the website for Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, click here.

Strata, Article featuring Susan Lenz

(Click on photos above to enlarge!)

The above photos is from the Nov/Dec issue of South Carolina Homes & Gardens of an article called Strata written by Rachel Haynie.

It reads:

Strata
Fiber Artist Susan Lenz
Gallery 80808, Vista Lights, Columbia

An exhibition of fiber art begging to be touched is handing at Gallery 80808 in The Vista, the heart of Columbia's art scene. Text: Rachel Haynie

Leaving no earth tone unturned, fiber artist Susan Lenz has been informed for her series, "Strata," by the earth sciences. Her sinewy compositions, resembling cross-sectional profiles of soft sedimentary layers, debut in the capital city as part of the annual Vista Lights, beginning November 17.

For her Autumn Strata, Lenz has plucked minerals right from the earth. In the Winter Strata, she had made monochromatic dynamic by building up the textures. By spring she has gathered violets and scattered them across a verdant field. Summer Strata is an explosion of celebratory color.

Works from Lenz's on-going "In Box" series have evolved into architectural statements worth repeating for Vista Lights. She interpreted ancient structures in an earlier series, "Elements in Architecture," and pieces from that group remain on view in her studio.

Pieces from the exhibition "Stitched!" can also be seen at Lenz's studio. Recently she has created art-to-wear scarves that are, in some ways, linear versions of her horizontal Strata pieces. To achieve her effects, Lenz employs hand embroidery, embellishing, and stitching, as well as painting. She often turns to machine embroidery and she raises the relief in her works by burning or melting away unwanted background fabric. Like a nest-building bird seeking out snippets of thread and yearn, Lenz lays away texture the way some artists hoard certain paint colors. Ribbon, remnants of fabric and embellishments..including jewelry...fill her burgeoning larder of possibilities.

"Sometimes I know when I see it exactly what I need it for. Most times, I am working on something and reach for a color or pile and it's there," she said. For an earlier series, Lenz unraveled an entire orange knit dress her mother placed in her creative hands. Before long, lengths of the nearly Day-Glo orange yarn had been circular stitched into fabric vessels. A few leftover tendrils later became striations in the fall Strata series.

Vista Lights art patrons will be able to see the newest works of other Vista Studios artists. Studio neighbors include Ethel Brody, Pat Callahan, Stephen Chesley, Jeff Donovan, Heidi Darr-Hope, Pat Gilmarting, Robert Kennedy, Sharon Licata, Yvonne Ruff, Laura Spong, David Yaghjian, Don Zurlo, and Michel McNinch.

Vista Lights showcases the composite output of artists who share the gallery space. SInce being established as a joint venture of teh Columbia Development Corporation and the South Carolina Arts Commission in the revitalization of the Congaree Vista, Gallery 80808 has provided gallery space and studios for more than a dozen serious artists. Together they have helped the area mature into a sought-after outlet for the Midlands' visual arts. With new shows coming in regularly, Gallery 80808 presents up to 25 different exhibitions a year.

To visit Gallery 80808/Vista Studios website, click here.

David Yaghjian wins third place at the Florence Miniature Competition

Vista Studio artist David Yaghjian won third place in the annual Friends of the Florence Museum Miniature Art Competition which is on display from November 27 until December 21, 2007.

Giovanni DiFeterici won first place with Small Jar of Screws. Barbara Yon took second with Asian Princes.
Third place was David Yaghjian with Cell Phone.


The juror, Jim Boden, said, "David Yaghjian's, Cell Phone, reminded me of the classic pose of Manet's The Dead Toreador. Here is a cockroach stretched out nobly and colored so wonderfully."

To visit Gallery 80808/Vista Studio's website, click here.

Pat Callahan's Success at Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon

Vista Studio artist Pat Callahan ran her first full marathon on Saturday, December 8 in Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon. She finished with a time of 3:42.55 which put her in the 178th spot...that's the 29th female to cross the finish time...that's also SECOND in her age category! Hurrah for Pat!

She said of this accomplishment: "The marathon went great...Ran great till mile 21 when the legs stopped cooperating and all began to hurt. But I finished, and I was thrilled (to stop running! actually trudging at that point) Few aches the first of the week, but only tired now--bone tired....I'm sticking to half marathons--half the distance, half the training, and twice the fun."

Everyone at Vista Studios is amazingly proud.

Charlotte's Thunder Road Marathon - Results
Charlotte, NC USA
December 8, 2007
Finishers: 840, Males - 582, Females - 258
Male Winner: 2:39:58 | Female Winner: 2:45:10
Average Finish Time: 4:14:44 | STD: 0:39:40

From the Charlotte Observer on Friday, December 7:

Thunder Road Marathon, a marathon/half-marathon/5K race, hits the pavement at 8 a.m. Saturday.

The marathon has a six-hour time limit for completion and the half-marathon has a three-hour time limit. The City of Charlotte expects traffic congestion on and around the racecourse until 2 p.m.

The marathon begins on College Street between Stonewall Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and heads away from uptown on Third Street. It continues through Myers Park on Providence and Sharon Roads but turns back toward uptown before reaching SouthPark mall.

It winds through Dilworth, Third Ward, Wilmore, NoDa, Plaza Midwood, and First and Second Ward neighborhoods.

The half-marathon runs concurrently.

if ART Gallery presents Construction Crew III

(To enlarge, please click on the image!)

if ART presents at
Gallery 80808/Vista Studios
808 Lady St., Columbia, S.C.

C o n s t r u c t i o n C r e w III:

STEVEN CHAPP – JEFF DONOVAN
JANET ORSELLI – EDWARD RICE
Dec. 7 – 18, 2007
Artists’ Reception: Friday, Dec. 7, 5 – 10 p.m.
Opening Hours:
Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sundays, 1 – 5 p.m.
Weekdays, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. and by appointment

For its holiday exhibition at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios in Columbia, S.C., if ART presents Construction Crew III, a group exhibition with work by South Carolina artists Steven Chapp, Jeff Donovan, Janet Orselli and Edward Rice. Like the first two if ART Construction Crew exhibitions in December 2005 and 2006, the show consists of two-dimensional and three-dimensional art that has strong constructional or architectural characteristics. The exhibition opens Friday, Dec. 7, with a reception from 5 –10 p.m. and runs through Dec. 18. Opening hours are weekdays, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Saturdays, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Sundays 1 ­ – 5 p.m. Chapp, Donovan, Orselli and Rice are represented by if ART Gallery, 1223 Lincoln St., (803) 238-2351, where additional works of art by all four artists will be on view.

Chapp will be showing monotypes, intaglio prints, drawings and paintings from the 1980s through last week. Donovan will present several major new ceramic sculptures. Orselli will show reconstructed and reconfigured old baby-carriages-turned-art-objects. Among the paintings Rice will be showing is a new series of barn paintings, in which the same barn structure is painted a dozen times in different colors.

Easley, S.C., native Steven Chapp (b. 1952) is a native of Kansas City, MO. He holds an MFA in printmaking and drawing from Clemson University and a BFA from Appalachian State University. He has shown in galleries and museums throughout the region, including the Greenville County (S.C.) Museum of Art, the Burroughs and Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach, S.C. and the Pickens County (S.C.) Museum of Art and History. He worked on two projects with artists Christo and Jean Claude, in Kansas City in 1978 and Key Biscayne, Fla., in 1983.

Jeff Donovan (b. 1957) has been a fixture on the Columbia, S.C., art scene for many years. The painter and ceramic sculptor was born in Millford, Del., and studied at the Ringling School of Art in Sarasota, Fla., and the Penland School of Crafts in Penland, N.C. Donovan has exhibited widely throughout South and North Carolina. He is represented in the Mark B. Coplan Collection of South Carolina Art, the prominent ceramic sculpture collection of Ron Porter and Joe Price in Columbia and in the collection of Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina. Donovan also works as an art conservator with ReNewell Fine Art Conservation in Columbia.

Janet Orselli (b. 1954) was born in Columbia, S.C., where she lived until November 2007, when she moved to Mill Spring, N.C. In 1976, she graduated from Clemson Unversity with a degree in psychology. In the 1990s she gradually switched careers from the field of mental health to art. While establishing herself as an artist, she earned an M.F.A. from Clemson in 2001. She was selected for the 2001 and 2004 South Carolina Triennial exhibitions as well as the 2004 traveling exhibition “South Carolina Birds: A Fine Arts Exhibition.” Earlier this year, Orselli has a solo show at O.K. Harris Gallery in New York City. Orselli has done large installations at the Gibbes Museum in Charleston, S.C., the Burroughs & Chapin Museum in Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C. Orselli has received several residencies and fellowships, including at Anderson Ranch in Colorado and in Kaiserslautern, Germany. She is the recipient of a Pollock-Krasner Fellowship.

North Augusta, S.C., native Edward Rice (b. 1953) lives in Augusta, Ga. He is one of the Southeast’s most prominent contemporary painters. Rice’s solo exhibitions include those at the Morris Museum of Art in Augusta, the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, S.C., the Greenville County (S.C.) Museum of Art, the Chattahoochee Valley Art Museum in La Grange, Ga., and the McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C. Rice also was represented in The Story of the South: Art and Culture, 1890 – 2003, the inaugural exhibition at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans. “Edward Rice: Architectural Works, 1978-1998” was published by the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in Augusta, Ga., and “Edward Rice: Recent Monotypes,” by the Morris Museum of Art in 2003.
From Friday, December 7 through Tuesday, December 18, if ART Gallery will present Contruction Crew III at Gallery 80808, 808 Lady Street in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. The show will feature Steven Chapp, Janet Orselli, Edward Rice, and Vista Studio's own Jeff Donovan. The artists' reception will be held on Friday, December 7 from 5 until 10 PM. Additional hours are: Weekdays from 11 Am until 7 Pm: Saturdays from 11 AM until 5 PM; and on Sundays from 1 - 5 PM.

For additional information, please contact if ART Gallery owner, Wim Roefs at (803) 238-2351 or call Gallery 80808/Vista Studios directly at (803) 252-6134. Also, visit the gallery's website at www.gallery80808vistastudios.com.

Vista Studio Artist Susan Lenz accepted into Craftforms 2007

Vista Studio artist Susan Lenz recently had The Collector accepted into Craftforms 2007, an international juried contemporary fine craft exhibition featuring 82 works by 80 artists from 25 States, Canada, and South Korea. The show is held at the Wayne Art Center in Wayne, Pennsylvania outside Philadelphia. The juror was Mark Richard Leach, founding director and chief curator of the Mint Museum of Craft and Design in Charlotte, North Carolina.



Susan and her husband Steve went to the opening reception and took these photos. An on-line catalog of the exhibit is available here.

Heidi Darr-Hope's Retreat to Mallorca, Spain

Sharon Bray and Heidi Darr-Hope present the Fourth Annual Serrania Retreat Sanctuary: Exploring the Self in Writing and Art
May 24 - 31, 2008
Mallorca, Spain

Early bird special of $1,500 until December 31 after $1,725
fee includes workshop costs, beautiful accommodations; delicious Mediterranean meals…
register early as enrollment is limited to 14.

Imagine yourself in the beauty of the Mallorcan countryside, amid the tranquil setting of La Serrania, part of a small group of people gathered together to wander and explore. You will be inspired by the serenity of nature and the quiet time, allowing you to express your creativity in word and art, gleaned from your wellspring of imagination and memory.

To create a sanctuary for authentic self-expression is to engage ourselves creatively in a search for meaning. Whether we express ourselves through words, music, dance or images, our mind, body, and soul merge. We then experience a unique way to connect with the unseen spiritual forces that guide and support our lives.

Yearning to deepen and enrich your life?
Longing to reconnect with your creative spirit?
Misplaced your life’s passion? Join us and give yourself the gift of Sanctuary

For more information and photos: http://www.darr-hope.com/Scheduled%20Workshops.htm#laserrania

Heidi Darr-Hope's upcoming monthly art & soul retreats

What if imagination & art are not the frosting but the fountain head of human experience? Rolo May

For information on Heidi’s 2008 retreat offerings
http://www.darr-hope.com/Scheduled%20Workshops.htm#Weekend%20Retreats

I am in the process of writing a book that addresses my philosophy of teaching dream interpretation and the craft of art making as vehicles for personal and spiritual growth. My weekly groups have been postponed until September 2008 to accommodate my commitment to this project.

Thank you for your support and understanding. I hope you will join us for the all day retreats offered monthly.

Who: Heidi Darr-Hope

What: 2008 Art and Soul Retreats - Small groups exploring spirituality, nighttime dreams and the joy of creativity
Where:

Columbia, South Carolina’s beautiful downtown historic arts district

Vista Arts Studios, 808 Lady Street , Vista Arts Building , Studio #2 - for hotels and other points of interest www.vistacolumbia.com

Why:

“I had heard that magic still exists in this world. Now, I know where it lives. To dive into the creative cauldron is to swim toward spiritual ascension. My advice to those considering…If your intuition is calling you to these retreats, dive in and swim there wholeheartedly.” Caroline ( Atlanta , GA )

How: class size is very limited so to reserve a space and to enroll contact me through the link below or respond to this email
Absolutely no prior experience is necessary, only a commitment to honestly explore your creative potential.

Vista Lights 2007 Reviewed in The State by Jeffrey Day

Review: Stroll through the Vista again — for art’s sake

By JEFFREY DAY - jday@thestate.com

You could be like everyone else and spend today shopping for clothing, appliances and toys. But wouldn’t you rather look at, and buy, art?

Last week’s Vista Lights festival was mostly about music and holidays and business. Still, some galleries in the Vista opened new shows. And they’re still up.

For the best one-stop looking and shopping, go to Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. Its annual late-fall show includes works by each of the 13 artists who have studios. It’s quite a group, with David Yaghjian, Heidi-Darr Hope, Steve Chesley and others. You’d be hard pressed to find a more diverse group of highly accomplished artists.

Some of the most exciting works in the show are by sculptors Pat Gilmartin and Sharon Licata.

Gilmartin offers up small bronze figurative works, but she also has been doing more unusual pieces. Check out the clay female figure covered with a dress pattern.

Licata often makes smaller- scale, abstract sculptures. In the middle of the main gallery, she has stacked a batch of stones that look not-quite-finished, but just right.

Ethel Brody, one of the more mature artists in the studios, has a whole batch of new paintings that walk a line between high design and pure abstraction. (She’ll have a solo show at the gallery in the spring.)

Don Zurlo’s abstract paintings in this show are not as heavily painted as his earlier ones, but still are richly textured with an inner glow.

The exhibition is well displayed as are most at the gallery, whether put together by the resident artists or outside curators.

The only drawback is that the art doesn’t have dates; although all the pieces are supposed to be new, anyone who has kept up with what these artists have been doing will know not all of them are.

Through Nov. 27 at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, 808 Lady St.; (803) 252-6134

(The article goes on....but this is the IMPORTANT PART!) It appeared on November 23, 2007 with a nice image of Pat Gilmartin's sculpture which was not available on the State newspaper's website...pity! To visit the Vista Studios/Gallery 80808 website, click here.

Vista Lights 2007 Reviewed in the Free Times

Issue #20.47 :: 11/21/2007 - 11/27/2007

Vista Lights Should Return to Core Mission: Showcasing the Arts

BY MARY BENTZ GILKERSON

Vista Lights — just like Artista Vista — originally was about showcasing the work of emerging artists. When the Vista was a new concept, it was the excitement of what was new in the visual arts, and not much later, in the performing arts that drew the crowds. The crowds still come. But it seems like they are driven more by the lure of free samples and commemorative trinkets at the area restaurants. At this year’s Vista Lights on Nov. 15, people were collecting goodies like kids at Halloween. On the whole, the art component of the night was flat. Most of the galleries simply installed shows of work by the gallery artists. Some didn’t even bother to change what was already hanging. Artists from the Artists’ Roundtable took advantage of available wall space in one of the retail businesses on Lincoln Street but the work was so jammed into the space that it was difficult to see. Sometimes less is more. The work that stood above the rest was a show at City Art by Lee Swallie, who won the Columbia Museum’s Young Contemporaries Award this year. Swallie explores the human figure in a series of charcoal and mixed media pieces that are dramatic in their scale, energy and use of light. Kathy Casey’s “Painting Textures” in the main gallery at City Art is mixed in its level of success. Most of the paintings are tightly controlled geometric abstractions based on a grid with some similarities to Carl Blair’s or Laura Spong’s work. However, they lack the active gestural mark-making that brings the other artists’ work to life. Casey’s most successful pieces, like Soho No. 2, abandon the grid and give way to a looser application of paint and mark. Kathy Casey's paintings at City Art were featrued in Vista Lights on Nov. 15. Gallery 80808/Vista Studios features a survey of solid work by the resident artists: Ethel Brody, Pat Callahan, Stephen Chesley, Jeff Donovan, Heidi Darr-Hope, Pat Gilmartin, Robert Kennedy, Susan Lenz, Sharon Licata, Laura Spong, David Yaghjian and Don Zurlo. The new work in the show is interesting, but some of the older — much older — work doesn’t seem to fit. Chesley’s work on monochromatic studies shows in his new paintings. The values are pushed to the extreme while the colors remain subtle. Raining is the least monochromatic of the group, but the hues are still very close together. This makes the soft line of blue that skirts across the bottom all the more powerful in evoking light. There are darker values and colors in some of Laura Spong’s new work, too. In A Chance Reflection the darks along the outer edges make the light areas in the center glow. She is beginning to paint the darks with the same care and attention as Motherwell. Jeff Donovan’s new paintings contort and compress the human form into impossible poses. Loving Cup shows a young woman contorted into a pretzel around the mug in her hand. The titles in his pieces deliberately play on the images and increase both the irony and humor. Reliquary of Spirit, a mixed media construction by Heidi Darr-Hope functions on Baroque sensory overload. It would be interesting to see a full installation of these pieces in the gallery so that Darr-Hope would have a chance to completely control their setting. Yaghjian continues with his “everyman” series. In Bull Rider 2 the figure of the man balances precariously on one leg atop a running bull. While the viewer has a pretty good idea that the man falls in the next frame of the narrative, it’s obvious that the man either has no clue or doesn’t care. Don Zurlo’s paintings are developing a sensitive approach to surface and color. In 9411 two interior rectangles are thickly painted in ochers and yellows. A narrow pale pink line separates the two areas and reads as a simple horizon line. These interior shapes are juxtaposed against succeeding flatly painted rectangular frames. There is nothing wrong with galleries exhibiting established artists. But, if the emerging artists and performers are neglected, the whole arts community will stagnate. In this case it’s a bigger risk to take no risk at all.

Vista Lights 2007 in pictures

(Above: Pat Gilmartin's ceramic Catfish with a trio of oil panels by Stephen Chesley.)

The artists of Gallery 80808/Vista Studios have hung a beautiful exhibition of recent work for the annual Vista Lights celebration. The Thursday night reception was marvelous. The show will hang through November 27. The gallery is generally open throughout the midday as well as in the late afternoon and early evening...basically, whenever artists are working in their studios. It is always a good idea to call (803) 252-6134 before venturing out...but, if you are in the area, please just drop by. To learn more about Gallery 80808/Vista Studios or any of the artists working there, please visit www.gallery80808vistastudios.com.


(Above: Oil panel by Stephen Chesley hanging above one of two guest books.)

When visiting the gallery, please sign one of our guest books with your email address. This will add you to our list for cyber invitations to upcoming art events at Gallery 80808.


(Above: Series of mixed media boxes by Pat Callahan.)


(Above: Our central hallway graced with an oil panel and sculpture by Stephen Chesley and a series of mixed, media boxes by Pat Callahan.)


(Above: The Chase by Pat Gilmartin beside an acrylic canvas by Don Zurlo. On the far right is an oil by Laura Spong.)


(Above: Ethel Brody sold the marvelous painting on the left. Pat Gilmartin's Catfish also sold. These are parted excellently with a trio of oils on panel by Stephen Chesley.)


(Above: Pat Gilmartin's sculpture with four monotypes by David Yaghjian in the main gallery.)


(Above: A view from the central hallway into the gallery space showing a trio of paintings by Jeff Donovan on the left and a seascape by Michel McNinch on the right. Inside the gallery are monotypes by David Yaghjian, an acrylic on canvas by Don Zurlo, a sculptural assemblage by Sharon Licata, and...just visible...a sculptural figure by Pat Gilmartin.)


(Above: A view to the gallery from a side hallway showing an oil on canvas by Laura Spong. Hanging on the central hallway door is a seascape by Michel McNinch. Inside the main gallery are monotypes by David Yaghjian, an acrylic on canvas by Don Zurlo, a sculptural assemblage by Sharon Licata, and just a hint of another painting by Michel McNinch.)


(Above: A view of two paintings on canvas by Jeff Donovan hanging in the central hallway. Beyond is a seascape by Michel McNinch and two small oils by David Yaghjian. Inside the main gallery two fiberworks by Heidi Darr-Hope are on display.)


(Above: A trio of work by Jeff Donovan.)


(Above: This corner of the main gallery includes a fiber piece by Heidi Darr-Hope, an illuminated stone sculpture on a covered pedestal by Sharon Licata, a grouping of paintings by Ethel Brody, and a welded sculpture by Stephen Chesley.)


(Above: This wall in the main gallery showcases a mixed media altar and three fiber pieces by Heidi Darr-Hope, an illuminated stone sculpture on a covered pedestal by Sharon Licata, and a welded sculpture by Stephen Chesley.)


(Above: This is a closer view of Heidi Darr-Hope's fiber work, Sharon Licata's illuminated stone sculpture, and the grouping of paintings by Ethel Brody.)


(Above: In the foreground stands a sculpture by Pat Gilmartin with Heidi Darr-Hope's mixed media altar behind it. To the left is an impressionistic oil painting by Stephen Chesley beside a non-objective oil painting by Laura Spong. To the right is a fiber piece by Heidi Darr-Hope.)


(Above: This corner of the main gallery includes three monotypes by David Yaghjian, an acrylic painting on canvas by Don Zurlo beside Fall Exhibition by Michel McNinch, a figurative sculpture by Pat Gilmartin, and a sculptural assemblage by Sharon Licata.)


(Above: Looking from the Main Gallery and Sharon Licata's sculptural assemblage, Ethel Brody's large painting is seen with Stephen Chesley's oil further on in the central hallway.)


(Above: Sharon Licata's sculptural assemblage stand in the foreground. Heidi Darr-Hope's mixed media altar is behind. To the right one of Heidi's fiber pieces. To the left hangs an impressionistic oil by Stephen Chesley beside a non-objective oil by Laura Spong.


(Above: This is a closer view of one corner in the main gallery hanging with two of David Yaghjian's monotypes and an acrylic on canvas by Don Zurlo. The sculptural assemblage is by Sharon Licata.)


(Above: One wall of the main gallery features four monotypes by David Yaghjian and a figurative sculpture by Pat Gilmartin. Sharon Licata's sculptural assemblage is in the foreground.)


(Above: This corner of the main gallery shows two realistic paintings by Michel McNinch, two monotypes by David Yaghjian, a figurative sculpture by Pat Gilmartin, and Sharon Licata's sculptural assemblage.)


(Above: Pat Gilmartin sold this incredible sculpture that is a focal point of the main gallery.)


(Above: Ethel Brody's series of paintings.)


(Above: Heidi Darr-Hope's mixed media altar.)


(Above: Two paintings by Michel McNinch.)


(Above: This corner of the main gallery features a large painting by Ethel Brody, two smaller paintings by Michel McNinch, two monotypes by David Yaghijan, a figurative sculpture by Pat Gilmartin, and Sharon Licata's limestone assemblage.)


(Above: This view from the back hallway into the atrium shows a non-objective oil painting by Laura Spong on the far left. Flanking Heidi Darr-Hope's mixed media altar are two fiberworks by Susan Lenz. In the foreground on the right is another fiber piece by Susan Lenz as well as a marble cat by Sharon Licata.)


(Above: Looking down the back hallway there is a wall mounted altar by Heidi Darr Hope above a seated figural unit. In the atrium hangs a non-objective oil by Laura Spong. In the covered pedestal is a marble cat by Sharon Licata. Hanging on the back hallway wall are works by Susan Lenz, Ethel Brody, and Don Zurlo.)


(Above: This is another view of the back hallway wall which also includes work by Laura Spong and more acrylic on canvas works by Don Zurlo.)


(Above: This view to the atrium includes three fiber pieces by Susan Lenz, a marble cat by Sharon Licata, and a mixed media altar by Heidi Darr-Hope. Below is a welded sculpture by Stephen Chesley.

Vista Lights 2007

(Above: David Yaghjian's Launched, acrylic on paper)

Fall Exhibition 2007 opens at Gallery 80808 as past of Vista Lights on Thursday, November 15, 2007, 5:00 to 9:00 p.m. The gallery is located within Vista Studios, 808 Lady Street in Columbia’s Congaree Vista. For this night of arts celebration, a stop here is a “must.” View new works by the 13 artists of Vista Studios and tour their open studios. Step in the creative space of each artist and discover a journey underway.



(Above: Pat Gilmartin's Hurricane Katrina)



(Above: Pat Gilmartin's Chase)

Pat Gilmartin pursues two established directions in her ceramic work in Fall Exhibition. The bas relief disk Hurricane Katrina is carved with symbols of flood waters, broken levees, and refugee trailers. This topical work achieves archaeological weight. In contrast the delightful Chase is a suspended figure striding with elongated limbs. Laura Spong contributes evocative non-objective paintings to the exhibition. Each is an expressionist journey that, the artist hopes, prompts the viewer’s own introspective journey.


(Above: Don Zurlo's Wedge North in Off Beam Mode, acrylic on canvas)

The literal and figurative journey factors into one of Don Zurlo’s new canvases. Zurlo translated a stream of consciousness sketch made while on a road trip to a family wedding into Wedge North in Off Beam Mode.

Susan Lenz continues her materials exploration with Strata Series, inspired by cross sections of the earth’s surface. Stitched to water-soluble fabric (which is later rinsed away) each Strata is a lace of horizontal fibers and free-motion embroidery. The surface evokes sedimentary earth, veins of metal, and faceted gemstones.



(Above: Susan Lenz's Strata VII, fibers)

In the hands of Sharon Licata, stone is but a veil. Licata carves alabaster to daring thinness in Through the Veil to depict the thin veil between worlds. A second sculpture, Getting back on the Totem, is a limestone testament to power regained when a woman restores herself high in her own priorities.



(Above: Sharon Licata's Through the Veil, carved alabaster.)

Jeff Donovan adds to Fall Exhibition a new grouping of figures on canvas. Each is both whimsical and serene. Painter Stephen Chesley contributes landscapes. Each canvas is a haunting play of shadowed and luminous forms, an uneasy pause at evening’s last light. Ethel Brody presents the light-hearted “fantasy” Big Rock Candy Mountain and the hard edged Color Wheel Series. The five paintings of the series are a fresh exploration of color fundamentals.


(Above: David Yaghjian's Bull Lift, oil, 10" x 8".)


(Above: David Yaghjian's Hoopsnake, monotype.)

The circus continues in the playful and deftly scribed paintings of David Yaghjian. His familiar old man in briefs heroically lifts a bull and launches from a high dive. Pat Callahan questions the forces at play in her juggling of competing passions and responsibilities in new shadow boxes titled scattershot, trying to hold center, and spin again. New mixed media works by Heidi Darr Hope, landscape and seascape paintings by Michel McNinch, and figurative works by Robert Kennedy complete the exhibition.


(Above: Michel McNinch's Winter Surf)



(Above: Michel McNinch's Fall Exhibition)

Fall Exhibition 2007 continues through November 27. Vista Studios will be open on Thursday, November 15 from 11 AM through the evening's festivities; Friday, November 16 from 11 AM until 6 PM; Saturday, November 17 from 11 AM until 6 PM; and on Sunday, November 18 from 1 PM until 6 PM. Most weekdays, the gallery is open from 11 AM until 3 PM and again in the early evening...but call first to be sure! (803) 252-6134.