| For more information about this article or gallery, please call the gallery phone number listed in the last line of the article, "For more info..." |
February Issue
2010
Clemson University
in Clemson, SC, Features Retrospective of Works by Terry K. Hunter
Clemson University in Clemson, SC, is presenting the exhibit, The Grid Turns the Corner, A Retrospective of the Drawings and Prints of Terry K. Hunter, on view in the Lee Gallery through Feb. 25, 2010.
This exhibition, which
covers nearly forty years, showcases Hunter's work from early
non- figurative abstraction to his current involvement with a
grid configuration. This collection of 52 works is the first comprehensive
exhibition of Hunter's work and chronicles the influence of the
socio-cultural milieu that shaped the artist's vision and steered
him toward social commentary as a vehicle for creative expression.
According to exhibition curator, Angela Corbett, "This retrospective
captures a pivotal moment in Dr. Hunter's career because the works
span from college to the present and express his passion for art
and teaching. While the works reveal Hunter's attachment to various
media like drawing, graphic design, screen printing and printmaking
it also reflects personal experiences, as well as the impact of
societal events, national movements and music on his work. His
ability to impose all these elements into to his artwork intrigues
the eye and challenges the mind."
Born in Tallahassee,
FL, Dr. Hunter grew up in the South during 1960's and was influenced
by a commitment to family, church, and education. These influences,
coupled with the television coverage of the cultural and social
revolution of the sixties, played a dominant role in the development
of Hunter's values and mores, and subsequently his approach to
image making.
The exhibition traces the artist's works through several phases
which parallel his shifting ideologies relative to his world view.
From geometric abstraction to representational realism to his
current gridded social commentary, The Grid Turns the Corner
provides a clear view of Hunter's growth and aesthetic maturation.
Additionally, the exhibition offers a glimpse into the reciprocal
relationship between Hunter's work as an artist and his role as
a teacher. In the introduction to the catalogue, William E. Colvin
writes "There can be no more fitting tribute for the artist-educator
than to operate at this level of connection, wherein the work
of the artist is in synch with his practice as a teacher. It is
precisely this combination of artist-educator that informs Hunter's
work as both artist and teacher and allows him to operate at optimum
levels of creativity." Dr. Colvin is professor and curator
of Art for the National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and
African American Culture in Montgomery, Alabama. He was the curator
for Hunter's 2007 exhibition Gridded Connections, which
was presented at the Center in Montgomery.
This exhibition includes
work completed early in his career first as a public school
art teacher, then as an art graduate student, and finally
in his capacity as a professor of art, a graphic designer, museum
director, and arts administrator. The Grid Turns the Corner
fuses these periods of productivity into a presentation that demonstrates
their influence on Hunter's work.
Hunter received a Bachelor of Science in art education from Florida
A&M University, a Masters of Fine Arts in printmaking and
drawing from Ohio State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy
in art education from Florida State University. Dr. Hunter
is currently the executive director of the Fine Arts Cultural
Enrichment Teaching Studios, (FACETS), a professional development
institute in the arts at the Clemson Institute for Economic and
Community Development at the Clemson University Sandhill Research
and Education Center. He has a long legacy of art education in
South Carolina, teaching for many years at South Carolina State
University and then Claflin University.
In his catalogue essay for the exhibition, Dr. Henry G. Michaux
writes, "I cannot imagine finding a more poignant, pre-dispositional
example of pedagogical commitment than that demonstrated in this
artist-educator's approach, one that weds personal creative efforts
with individual student growth. This should be a mainstay
of universally accepted conditions of artists as humans who have
learned how to maximize components of our learning capacity. In
doing so, one can chart a path to a clearer vision that under
girds the absolute potential of the teaching-learning dynamic.
The fact that this structure is employed as an approach within
the context of arts education, given the nature of the discipline,
places it squarely at the core of humanistic endeavor. That Hunter
uses this approach as a cornerstone for his studio endeavors as
well, establishes a certain kinship that serves as a recipe for
artistic and educational success."
The Grid Turns the Corner is scheduled to tour three states
over the next two years. The tour will include seven cities
in Florida, Ohio, and South Carolina. The exhibition was organized
by the Fine Arts Cultural Enrichment Teaching Studios (FACETS),
Florida A&M University, and Ohio State University.
For further information
check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Lee Gallery
at 864/656-3899 or visit (www.clemson.edu/caah/leegallery).
Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc. Copyright© 2010 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2010 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.