University Painting Society Spring Show

The University Painting Society Spring Show will showcase paintings by graduate and undergraduate students from the University of South Carolina. There will be approximately 30 paintings in a variety of genres from students such as Nick Oleszczuk, Jerry Slayton, Laurel Steckel, Bonnie McRae, Cecelia Stucker, Joanna Nowak, Stephanie Redmond, Peter Turanec, Brittany Warn, Randy Brown, Rhett Campbell, Allison Walvoord, Melissa Robinson, Jaime Morgan, Manal Esmail and more. The dates for the show are Thursday, May 28 through Tuesday, June 2. The opening reception will begin at 5:30 on Thursday, May 28.

The show is sponsored by Crawford Conservation, Inc., a professional museum-quality conservation studio. The reception will be catered by The Whig, with an after party at The Whig.

"There was a great show last year after a study abroad class in Italy where a large group of students and the painting faculty showed paintings they had done there. It was interesting to see what everyone was doing as a painter. We want this show to be like that, for the community to see what students are up to at the University of South Carolina and to encourage a dialogue and interest in supporting young artists." - Jaime Morgan, University Painting Society Secretary.

Leslie Hinton Presents Claytharsis, an MFA solo exhibition

(Above: Invitation to Leslie Hinton's MFA exhibition, Claytharsis. Click on image to enlarge.)

Gallery 80808/Vista Studios is pleased to announce the opening of Leslie Hinton's MFA solo exhibition, Claytharsis. Shown in the main gallery from Thursday, May 21 through Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 808 Lady Street in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. This show will feature sculptural ceramics accentuated with drawings, paintings and a short loop video. The opening reception will be on Thursday, May 23 from 6 - 8 PM. The artist will be in attendance.


(Click on image above to enlarge.)

Leslie Hinton as spent the last three years as a Master of Fine Arts candidate at the University of South Carolina. Her major focus has been in ceramics with a minor in printmaking. Claytharsis represents her final thesis and has been compiled over the last two semesters. This terminal project provided Hinton with a uniquely creative experience. Her studio became her safety zone. Working with her materials became both meditative and a sort of emotional purging. She worked with a new sense of purpose and urgency while finding the process to be a form of healing. Sources of inspiration came from places as diverse as Pets Plus, meeting self-taught topiary artist Pearl Frayer, knitting, cooking, and through explorations with otherwise mundane found objects. Hinton hopes that Claytharsis embodies the factors of optimism, birth, and growth. She says of her work, "I must keep my sights on these positive aspects of the human experience."

(Click on images above and below to enlarge.)

Janet Kozachek presents Homage to Squares: The Poetry of Paintings & Mosaics

(Above: Invitation to Janet Kozachek's exhibition at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. Click on image to enlarge.)

"Homage to Squares: The Poetry of Paintings & Mosaics" featuring the painting, poetry, and mosaics of Janet Kozachek, will run at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, 808 Lady Street, Columbia SC from May 14 - 19, 2009. There will be a reception for the artist on Friday, May 15, from 5 - 9 PM. A number of the paintings will be a selection from the 117 figurative works illustrating the poetry from Ms. Kozachek’s book manuscript Moments in Light and Shadows. These paintings, upon which the book was based, each depicts a single person in an interior. The theme of the square is carried throughout the exhibition in the mixed media collage and mosaics works.

About the exhibition, Janet Kozachek says, "With four even sides, the square is a symbol of the structure of the universe and the foundations of civilization. We meet in public squares, live in the four ages, celebrate the four seasons, and journey to the four points of a compass. My figurative art in squares is about these little blocks of time with people and the poetry that was engendered in the process of revisiting them."

Below are images to be included in the exhibition. Click on any image to enlarge. For more information about Janet Kozachek and her work, please visit her blog or contact the artist directly at kozachek@bellsouth.net or (803) 534-8007. The gallery's telephone number is (803) 252-6134.

Gallery hours: Weekdays 11 am - 7 pm
Saturday: 11 am - 5 pm
Sunday: 1 pm - 5 pm
and by appointment



(Above: Janet Kozachek's The Red Thread. 9" x 9". Oil on canvas. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozachek's Tall Bronze Woman. 9" x 9". Oil. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozacheck's Songs of the Kinnari. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozachek's Seated Woman, 12" x 12". Glass, stone and ceramic. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozachek's Safe Beneath Her Roof, 8" x 8". Stone, metal, ceramic, and glass. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozachek's La Mente Malevola. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozachek's Fallen Floyd. Detail. 12" x 12". Glass, stone, and ceramic. Click on image to enlarge.)

(Above: Janet Kozachek's Fallen Amazon. 12" x 12". Stone, ceramic, and glass. Click on image to enlarge.)