Feature Articles

September Issue 2002

Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County in Camden, SC, Features Works by Carol Pittman and Peter Lenzo

The Fine Arts Center of Kershaw County in Camden, SC, is kicking off its visual arts season with the colorful mosaics/paintings of Carol Pittman and ceramic face jugs by Peter Lenzo. The exhibition will be on display in the FAC's Bassett Gallery through Sept. 29, 2002.

Carol Pittman breaks bisque-fired tiles, reassembles them on a surface and then paints them to create rich, colorful mosaics. Her work evokes images of ancient Italy, a direct effect of her years of study in Naples, Italy. While there, she was "surrounded by colorful tiles, pottery shards, Roman and Renaissance frescoes and other evidence of ancient cultures," she said.

While in Italy, Pittman was charmed by her surroundings - the land, the art, the history, the myths, the language. Her paintings reflect her time there, from images of garden fountains and terraces along the Mediterranean to ancient goddesses and ruins of Pompeii. "The paintings allow me to share my experiences and to make connections between my life and life of the ancient Romans and Greeks."

Pittman received both Bachelor and Master of Art degrees from the University of South Carolina. Her work has been shown in numerous venues and is included in private and public collections. She is currently an art instructor at USC.

Peter Lenzo, the second exhibiting artists in this exhibition, works largely from instinct and physical reaction to the world around him. "I make and collect objects based upon a visceral response to my experiences. I translate that visceral response to images - few, if any, words intrude into the process," said Lenzo about his work.

Lenzo's jug faces combine traditional and contemporary approaches to art. Typically, his pieces are created from stonewear clay with porcelain used as accents, usually eyes and teeth. In addition, many of the pieces are embedded with pieces of found objects - broken china and porcelain figures mainly.

Lenzo received Bachelor and Master of Art degrees from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. He has exhibited in Europe, Canada and around the United States including Chicago, Tennessee, Michigan, Florida and California, to name a few. He has taught at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts, Wayne State University, the University of South Carolina and is currently the art teacher at Lexington Middle School in Lexington, SC.

For more information check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call the Center at 803/425-7676.

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