Feature Articles

November Issue 2002

Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, Offers Third Faculty Exhibition

Winthrop's Department of Art and Design Faculty Exhibition Three opens to the public Nov. 8 and continues through Jan. 26, 2003, in the Rutledge and Elizabeth Dunlap Patrick Galleries of the historic Rutledge Building on the campus of Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC.

This year's exhibition includes the works of Jim Connell (ceramics), the team of Mark Guilbeau and Rian Kerrane (installation), David Stokes (design) and Jerry Walden (painting, drawing and printmaking). Unlike a traditional faculty exhibition that highlights only one or two works from each artist, the Winthrop faculty exhibition challenges each faculty member to produce and present an in-depth body of work. Only four to five artists are selected each year to exhibit.

"Given the size of the department, twenty-three full-time and twenty-five part-time faculty, there should be little problem in selecting those who will exhibit annually," notes gallery director Tom Stanley. "However, attempting to organize a balanced exhibition that represents a diversity of attitudes and disciplines is not always that simple. This year's exhibition presents five artists whose attitudes of making are varied, whose intentions are distinct, and whose individual art and design disciplines suggest a wide range of aesthetic and social contributions."

Jim Connell is nationally recognized for the development of a mature style in fine art clay vessels that draws upon classical forms in Korean and Chinese ceramics. Designer David Stokes has produced an installation for Rutledge Gallery that illustrates his current work in modular space design. The politically charged site-specific installation of Guilbeau and Kerrane fills the Patrick Gallery with layers of sculptural texture including repeated paper boats fashioned from newspaper. Guilbeau and Kerrane's work is intended to convince the audience that every decision made affects the larger society.

Department chair Jerry Walden has produced an installation for the faculty exhibition titled, Red, White and Blue American Artist: A Retrospective in Self-Portrait. The work, hung in salon style, is comprised of computer generated images of Walden, paintings, drawings and prints spanning thirty-five years of self-portrait study. Walden is best known for his large-scale, mixed media constructed paintings that rely upon his keen knowledge of color and compositional organization. However, for this exhibition, he has uncovered a more introspective aspect of his work - an examination of self-portraits that parallel his professional life. Often done as relief from his serious, more formal work, Walden's self-portraits are less labored in approach, reflecting his playful nature.

Related programs will include a lecture by Jerry Walden on Nov. 17, at 3pm; and by David Stokes on Nov. 24, at 3pm. All the lectures are open and free to the public in Rutledge Auditorium adjacent to the exhibition.

For more information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call 803/323-2493 or e-mail at (stanleyt@winthrop.edu).

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