May Issue 2002
Summit One Gallery in Highlands, NC, Presents The Vista and The Plateau
Summit One Gallery in Highlands, NC, is honored to open The Vista and The Plateau, on May 25, an exhibition featuring works by four southern artists well known for their landscapes. The Vista and The Plateau includes the works of Carl R. Blair, Edward Rice, Jack Bartlett, and J. Anderson Luster, which will be on view through June 20, 2002.
Carl Blair, from Greenville, SC, is well known for his contributions to the arts in South Carolina. Having moved to SC in 1957 to accept a professorship in the art department at Bob Jones University, he has been instrumental in the education and exhibition of artists around the state. Last Fall, Blair's work was exhibited at the Columbia Museum of Art in a one-man exhibition highlighting his patterned landscapes.
Blair says his sole source of inspiration is the music he listens to as he paints. A recent favorite includes a CD by NC folk artist, Jim Taylor. To Blair, Taylor's songs "are heartbreaking, uplifting, patriotic, and very moving." They are based on various famous battles in the civil war both from the northern and southern perspectives and the effects on people's lives.
Blair is known for his patterned landscape paintings, oil on canvas and oil on paper. In the last ten years his paintings have been exhibited in several major solo exhibitions around South Carolina, and reviewed favorably in exhibitions throughout the US.
Edward Rice was born in North Augusta SC. And although he has traveled extensively in the US and aboard, he has chosen to live and paint in North Augusta. His work continues to reflect the southeastern part of the country, whether it is his architectural detail or his landscapes. Rice established his career with his architectural details, but has been painting landscapes for twenty years. In 1987, a solo exhibition at the McKissick Museum at the University of SC featured his architectural details and one landscape. For the last twelve years he has had many landscape exhibitions throughout the Southeast, New Mexico, & Arizona.
Rice in strongly influenced by the art he admires, art by such noted artists as Winslow Homer, NC Wyeth and Rockwell Kent; and also by the pre-impressionist romantic landscape artist of the 1820's, John Constable. Rice says, "the silhouette of the mountain landscape never changes. The landscape of our mountains today is much like the view the Cherokee Indians saw when they inhabited the area. The same thought carries over to the landscape of Ireland, the vegetation may change but not the silhouette. The style of a painting dates the painting, not the landscape." Many of Rice's landscapes are painted on-site and in one sitting.
Rice's paintings are included in the permanent collections of several museums throughout the Southeast. And his work was recently accepted into the San Francisco International Arts Festival 2002.
Jack Bartlett is a southerner, born in Mississippi and educated in Texas. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Stephen F. Austin State University and a Master of Fine Arts Degree from Southern Methodist University. He has also studied Life Drawing at the Instituto Allende in San Miguel do Allende, Mexico.
Bartlett was inspired by the Appalachian Mountains when he was an artist-in-residence at the Hambidge Center for the Arts and Sciences in Rabun Gap, GA. In 1999, he conducted an on-location painting/drawing class at the Chateau du Mung, in southwest France. He recently retired after teaching painting and drawing as a Professor of Art at Mississippi State University, where he was awarded the John Grisham Faculty Excellence Award. Bartlett works mostly in oils and acrylics and occasionally in watercolor and gouache. His works have been shown in numerous state and national exhibitions and are held in private, public and corporate collections.
J. Anderson Luster was born and raised in the Montgomery, AL, area. After graduating from the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, he continued his studies and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting and Printmaking from Auburn University in 1984.
For many years, Anderson worked for design
firms constructing life-like, meticulously detailed scale models
relevant to historical aviation and space travel, as well as multi-year
projects such as creating mural and scenic illustrations for the
Mann Museum in Opelika, AL. However, recently, he has returned
to his first love, oil painting. Luster's highly photo realistic
renderings are received very favorably. Crafting a style based
on the Chiaroscuro lighting effects of the Baroque period along
with the rich color of the Venetian Renaissance. Luster's traditional
painting techniques makes for a style, which is both unique and
eloquent.
On June 15 &16, 2002, Summit One Gallery welcomes Laszlo,
and a special exhibition of his limited edition photographs entitled
The Appalachian Mountains, Waterfalls, and Flowers. Laszlo
uses a special developing technique that produces photographs
as large as 48" x 60". Laszlo is noted for his photographic
work in the music industry and also for his photographs of noted
muralist, Wyland. A collection of his photos can been seen in
one Wyland's most popular books,Wyland's Whaling Walls, Celebrating
50 Walls. Laszlo will be in the gallery during this special
exhibition to discuss his work.
For further information check our NC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 828/526-2673 or e-mail at (summitonegallery@aol.com).
Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer
427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
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