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March Issue 2003
City of Charleston Gallery, SC, Offers Works by Melissa Clegg and Townsend D. Davidson
The City Gallery at the Dock Street Theatre in Charleston, SC, will present an exhibit of gelatin silver prints by Mt. Pleasant, SC, artist Melissa Clegg, from Mar. 12 through Apr. 11, 2003, entitled Beyond. In the Drawing Room at the Dock Street Theatre an exhibition of gelatin silver prints by local artist Townsend D. Davidson will be presented from Mar. 12 - Apr. 11, 2003, entitled In Memorium.
Melissa Clegg was born in Davis, CA, in 1965. She spent much of her childhood moving across the country eventually settling in Athens, GA. She graduated with a BBA from the University of Georgia in 1989. Clegg has owned several small businesses and restaurants in Athens. One of her personal interests includes flying. She earned a flight instructor's certificate in 1991 and has taught at flight schools at Peachtree Dekalb Airport in Atlanta, GA.
Clegg's current interest is photography. She has taken many photography courses offered at the Gibbes Museum of Art and at the College of Charleston as well as a few workshops in Rockport, ME, and at Palm Beach Photographic Centre. She currently resides in Charleston with her husband and two daughters.
Clegg comments on her work: "I am interested in presenting work that does not offer viewers an easy perspective with formulated solutions but raises questions and provokes thought. The body of work I am currently focused on, which is represented in this show, explores ones relationship with the natural environment. The study of how forces within our society play on the innocence of childhood is a consistent theme. We live in a beautiful landscape, which is pressured with constant change. These changes often have adverse impacts on native environments and the species held within them. This series was my attempt to bring forth some of these issues."
Townsend D. Davidson was born in Childress, VA, in 1979. He attended the College of Charleston where he received a degree in Studio Art in 2001 and a degree in Art History in 2002. In the year 2002, Davidson's work has been included in several student exhibitions at the Simons Center for the Arts, College of Charleston including the annual Young Contemporaries juried art exhibition at Halsey Gallery. His work was also selected for the 2002 Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition and Print Studio South's Juried Picture Show where he received a second place award. Miscellany, the literary journal published at the College of Charleston also includes Davidson's work.
Davidson comments on his work: "I have a love for the common object. A small, practical thing such as a spring or a screw; the piece of bric-a-brac that almost everyone collects and uses daily throughout the course of life; that is, perhaps, not given much mind-that is passed over. I am interested in exploring, through photography, the expressive potential of the bits and pieces from my trove of junk arranged within the context of the still life. I compose with the intention of creating an environment within which my little scraps of junk may take on a personality that transcends their plainness. It is my wish to suggest the presence of a relationship between the objects, the patches of organic elements (such as flowers and leaves), the transparency shadows (usually featuring figurative subject matter) that sometimes pop and sometimes hide, and the light that gives play to the wet surfaces; that allows for the inclusion of reflections. Objects are talkative if given a chance to speak. My hope is that I have managed to make ordinary things appear wise. My still lifes are not just still lifes, they are built realities; they are memory constructions."
For more information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings, call the Office of Cultural Affairs at 843/724-7305 or on the web at (www.ci.charleston.sc.us/oca.html).
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