The Department of Fine Arts sponsors the Art Gallery Series in the Hyman Fine Arts Center’s Adele Kassab Art Gallery, hosting varied shows of two and three dimensional works showcasing local and regional artists. The Art Gallery Curator selects exhibitions that support and enhance the academic goals of the visual arts program at Francis Marion University, providing a non-profit institutional setting in the service of both students and the wider community. Information about previous exhibits may be found in Art Gallery Archive.
Befoul: Prints on Cloth by Jeff Murphy
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
May 24 – August 2, 2018
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Thursday
“My current body of work is entitled Befoul and deals with ecological issues involving the global fresh water supply. As the earth’s population grows, pollution, drought, and waste will all adversely affect the availability of fresh water and this is a matter of critical importance.”
This series of work mixes charcoal drawing with photographs in heavily edited collages with some charcoal drawing printed on fabric. All works in this series incorporate images of the sea, often including images of animals, some washed up on the shore. The images can be whimsical as well as disturbing, as in “Surfcasting,” in which a figure casts a line into a rough sea while standing atop the eye of an alligator.
Most of the works are on poplin cloth mounted to wood and covered with wax, a presentation that gives them a distinct strong texture, while others are printed on sateen cloth and displayed as large wall hangings.
Jeff Murphy is an Associate Professor of Art at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where he teaches digital imaging, interactive design, photography, video, and animation. He received his BFA from the Ohio State University and his MFA from the University of Florida.
Jeff’s work has been published in a diverse array of publications including WIRED Magazine, World Art Magazine, and the textbook Exploring Color Photography. He has received individual artist grants from the Arts and Science Council, the Ohio Arts Council and the North Carolina Arts Council. In addition to over 40 National solo exhibitions, his digital images, videos, and installations have been seen in the United States, Germany, Hungary, Spain, and Brazil.
The Art of Original Research: Restoration & Preservation at Belle Baruch’s Hobcaw Barony
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
June 30 – August 17, 2018
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Thursday
A new exhibit at Francis Marion University in the Kassab Gallery will open on June 30 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., showcasing the 1920s riding attire worn by American heiress Belle W. Baruch.
Among the first research projects inspired by the newly-created Baruch Institute for South Carolina Studies, the exhibit features Ms. Baruch’s original riding coat, waistcoat, and breeches, presented alongside reproductions created by Professor Allison Steadman and students of costume design in FMU’s Theatre Arts program.
The exhibit reveals the processes of restoration and reproduction that enrich student learning and produce tangible historical artifacts for university visitors to enjoy. Working collaboratively with a professional textile conservator, Steadman and her students have studied each detail of the garments, from the fabrics and stitching to the engraved buttons.
Further research provides an understanding of each detail. Measurements underscore the necessity of free movement during equestrian sporting events. A hidden ring inside the collar anchors a thread attached to the rider’s top-hat. The engraved images on the buttons signify specific fox hunts or hunting clubs.
Companion pieces, retrieved from the same location at Hobcaw Barony near Georgetown, SC, include many of Ms. Baruch’s checkbooks, receipts, and business documents, all shedding light on her philanthropy, meticulous estate management, pastimes, and serious pursuits. Her most notable gift is the protection of 16,000 acres along South Carolina’s coast, preserving it in perpetuity for research and education by state universities and colleges.
It is in her honor and as a tribute to her foresight that the Baruch Institute of South Carolina Studies invites visitors to the Kassab Gallery to view these sample artifacts from Belle Baruch’s history. They serve as sources for original research and as symbols of the artistry of scholarly endeavors.
Lynne Riding – A Process
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
August 21 – September 27, 2018
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
“The exhibit shows my process and development of ideas. A selection of work that includes initial studies that I make in the landscape, through to the large scale studio paintings and 3D work used for installation in exhibits at The Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC, Redux Contemporary, Charleston, SC, The Riverside Gallery, Greenville, SC, Artfields, Lakecity, SC and Not for Sheep, Columbus, OH. Included, are “Concerning Being” and “Cotton B/W”, two ongoing bodies of work.
“Major components of my work are issues of impermanence, shifting perspectives, displacement and loss, aligned with the dichotomy of hope, that which drives us on. My inspiration stems from the landscape in which I find myself, be it referential to color, form, or a line seen in space. My interests are to be found in the subtle undercurrents, the not so blatant, crude or obvious, in other words, a case of paying attention to what happens between the obvious.
“Initially, I work in an investigative manner, using my drawing in the landscape or urban environment as a jumping off point. Drawings made in the landscape serve as meditations and find their way into my paintings where they act as metaphors for a deeper meaning.
“While working in the landscape for hours at a time, I feel very grounded and connected to the land, occupied with the process of observation, open to my surroundings and focused on transferring my feelings to paper. All of which add to my reflection and questioning as to the power and energy of the landscape. I am happiest working onsite and intuitively. Depending on what I am trying to say, my work shifts as it develops, in both scale and medium, sometimes combining media.
“At times, I incorporate site-specific material, rubbings and natural materials into my work In order to create a sense of presence lived within the atmosphere of place, the power and beauty of the elements and the passage of time.”
Lynne Riding is a visual artist living and working in Charleston, SC. She received an MFA in Painting from the San Francisco Art Institute, a BFA in Fashion and Textiles from Manchester College of Art, UK and a 2 year Art Foundation from Hereford School of Art & Design, UK. In addition to practicing as a professional artist, she has been an art educator at university level, currently serving as a faculty member at the Art institute of Charleston, SC. For more information, visit www.lynneriding-art.com
Department of Art Faculty Show
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
October 2 – November 8, 2018
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Visiting Artist Talk by Tiffany Thomas
Hyman Fine Arts Center Lecture Room 213
3:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 13, 2018
FMU graduate Tiffany Thomas will give a talk/presentation aimed at art students about how to transition from being a student to a full-time artist, including developing a website and social media presence for an art business. She is currently working on fulfilling a huge order of her ceramic work for national retailer, West Elm.
Triad: Senior Show by Graduating FMU Visual Arts Majors
Brittany Rybak, Dequane Gurley, Mary Fountain
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
November 13 – December 15, 2018
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.
Works by Ceramics and 3-D Design Classes
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
November 13 – December 15, 2018
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Students in ceramics classes learn processes and techniques in both wheel-throwing and hand building in the art and craft of pottery. Throwing leads progressively toward stoneware clay tooling, decorating, glazing and firing. As they advance through the curriculum, students add ceramic fabrications methods of slabwork, modeling from solid masses, and press molding. Multi-part forms and porcelain formula clay bodies are created as artistic discipline develops along with the individual’s philosophy, critical awareness and aesthetics.
Students taking Three-Dimensional Design classes investigate organization techniques, with special emphasis on the plastic controls of form and space. They learn to use a variety of tools and various sculptural media, including wood, plaster and clay.
Visiting Artist Talk by Gui Portel, Elsewhere Museum
Hyman Fine Arts Center Lecture Room 213
3:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Gui Villalba Portel, the program director for Elsewhere Museum in Greensboro, NC will give a talk/presentation about Elsewhere, surely one of the coolest artist residency programs/museums in the entire South. Gui is a Greensboro-based storyteller, theatre artist, and arts organizer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is a proponent of gender discovery and the amplification of marginalized narratives.
A visit to Elsewhere will unhinge your imagination!
Culture and Landscape:
Photography by Peter Schmunk
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
January 8 – February 14, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Peter L. Schmunk has taught art history for thirty-one years at Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he is Garrison Professor of Humanities. He regularly teaches courses on Medieval, Baroque, and Nineteenth-Century Art, on the History of Architecture, and on Art Historiography. For Peter, photography is an endeavor closely connected with travel and exploration of the world around. An avid hiker, backpacker, backroad driver, and international traveler, he is constantly engaged by the challenge of interpreting visual experience in creative ways. Peter has exhibited his work at a number of colleges, museums, and galleries, and has published his images in a book on Spartanburg’s Cottonwood Trail. His current projects include the making of photographs based on concepts specific to music, a search for abstract images derived from industrial subject matter, and the development of multi-image and multi-media compositions. This exhibition includes works that represent his engagement with both urban and wilderness subjects.
Ceramics by Nathan Goddard
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
January 8 – February 14, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Nathan Goddard was born in Grand Rapids, MI and has lived all around the country and traveled widely throughout Europe and Japan. He received his BFA in Studio Art and Land Art from the University of New Mexico. It was in the American Southwest that he began to see the greater potential of earth and materials in his paintings and installations. His investigation of alternative materials and ceramics has continued through his MFA work at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA.
He was awarded to design the Michigan Governor’s Award for Arts in Culture in 2007, commissioned to paint a community mural for the Creston Neighborhood Association in 2009, awarded the jurors award for painting at the Festival of the Arts in Grand Rapids, MI in 2009 and a recipient of multiple Merit scholarship at the University of the Arts.
Nathan has taught ceramics to adults, college students and the youth at Kendall College of Art and Design and Stepping Stones Montessori School. Most recently Nathan was working in Skaelskor, Denmark at Guldagergaard as the Kiln Yard Technician. His life is dedicated to educating others in the arts and moving the visual art language forward. Currently living in Spartanburg, SC teaching ceramics at Wofford College.
Visiting Ceramic Artist Talk by Alice Ballard
Hyman Fine Arts Center Room 202
11:30 a.m. Wednesday, January 16, 2019
A resident of Clover, S.C., Alice Ballard is a renowned ceramics sculptor and art educator. Her work has been widely exhibited, including Renwick Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C. She is represented by galleries in Charlotte, Asheville, and Hillsboro, N.C., Greenville, S.C., and Hong Kong. Ballard has taught at Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Crafts, and the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.
In the evening, Ballard will also take part in a 6:00 p.m. discussion about marketing art at Lake City’s Jones-Carter Gallery.
This event is free and open to the public.
Marketing Art: Alice Ballard and Tiffany Thomas
Jones-Carter Gallery, Lake City, S.C.
6:00 p.m. Wednesday, January 16, 2019
The Francis Marion University’s Department of Fine Arts and the Lake City Creative Alliance will host a night of talks at the Jones-Carter Gallery in Lake City, S.C. at 6 pm on Wednesday, January 16, 2019 on the topic of selling your artwork and maintaining an art business Successful ceramic artists, Alice Ballard and Tiffany Thomas will present on the topic and take questions from the audience. Financial support for the talks has been provided from a grant by the FMU REAL program. The talks, which are aimed at artists and anyone considering selling their work, will cover such areas as how to price your work, how to work with a gallery, how to handle the logistics of packing and shipping artworks, and how to use social media to promote your work.
A resident of Clover, S.C., Alice Ballard is a renowned ceramics sculptor and art educator. Her work has been widely exhibited, including Renwick Gallery in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and the Mint Museum in Charlotte, N.C. She is represented by galleries in Charlotte, Asheville, and Hillsboro, N.C., Greenville, S.C., and Hong Kong. Ballard has taught at Penland School of Crafts, Arrowmont School of Crafts, and the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities.
Tiffany Thomas is the owner of TthomasArts Studio, a brand and former gallery in Florence, S.C.. She is currently living in Lake City, S.C. where she is working on a large commission of pottery, which will be sold through national retailer, West Elm.
The Jones-Carter Gallery will also host an exhibition of winners from the 701 CCA Prize for 2018–Carey Morton, Alexander Thierry, and Jena Thomas. The 701 CCA Prize recognizes outstanding South Carolina artists under 40 years of age and is sponsored by the 701 Center for Contemporary Art in Columbia, S.C.
Drawings and Prints by Susan Fecho
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
February 18 – March 28, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
“My recent work interprets the past as a personal, cultural, and archetypal artifact. The human body, architectural unit, and surrounding landscape become metaphors in my work. Trained as a traditional printmaker, I am intrigued by the richness and variety inherent in varied techniques.
“Storytelling is at the core of my work, with the sculptural book as a mode of telling stories, expressing feelings, and sharing imagery. Through my work, the familiar reappears in unfamiliar configurations; a new sense of significance is imparted to an otherwise everyday object. My creative interests extend beyond the viewed subject, encompassing sculptural elements, allegorical imagery, and whimsical puns. In my work, there are varied layers of material and multiple facets of meaning.”
Susan Fecho, a Professor of Art at Barton College, has shown in 25 solo exhibitions and over a hundred invitationals. Fecho’s published images have been accepted into several major collections: the Smithsonian Institution’s American Art Museum/National Portrait Gallery Library, Washington, D.C.; the Word and Image Department, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England; and the Museum of Women Artists, Washington, D.C. Fecho is a multi-media printmaker/surface designer with an earned M.F.A. from East Carolina University as well as postgraduate studies from various institutions including; Jan Van Eyck Academie, Humboldt Field Research Institute, Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design, Northern Illinois University and Penland School of Crafts. She has exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally – and has received numerous awards, grants and residencies.
Beneath the Surface:
Ceramics by Olga Yukhno
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
February 18 – March 28, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Olga Yukhno is an artist originally from Pyatigorsk, Russia. It was in Russia her passion for art began. Inspired by the culture of her home country, she began by working with batiques, stained glass and enameling. She studied under world renowned enamellist, Nikolai Vdovkin for several years to hone her skills, before moving to the United States in 2008.
In the US, she no longer had access to the tools needed to continue with her enameling, and quickly started expanding into any and every new medium she could get access to. What she fell in love with was ceramic sculpting. It allowed her to experiment, and fuse together old-world artistry with her skills and abilities across a wide variety of art forms to create totally new and unique mixed media pieces.
“The concept for this exhibition comes from my fascination with human psychology, and my drive to translate it into art. How do we come to a given conclusion, or arrive at a certain decision? How do we deal with difficult situations, when we are at a crossroads, or put into a scenario we never thought we would be faced with? How do we handle trauma? What kinds of coping mechanisms do we develop?
“The pieces in this show address some of the hardest aspects of our lives: facing our fears, denial, peer pressure, societal and personal expectations. I look at what role society plays in our lives, how it can be a force of good to mold us, but also how it dictates what we think, gags what we say and prevents us from being who we are inside.
“I also explore the pursuit of what makes you uniquely “you”, uncover things we sometimes don’t even know ourselves. What informs our life choices? What are we willing to give up? How do we know if it was the right decision?
“All of these things are the pieces of the puzzle that makes each of us who we are. The dark things, happy things, dreams, ambitions, passions, love… the good and bad, the black and white, and the gray, the things that are hidden, or lying just beneath the surface.”
Senior Shows by Graduating FMU Visual Arts Majors
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
April 2 – May 4, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Senior shows are required of all students majoring in Visual Arts. These shows give students hands-on experience in selection and installation of artworks, publicity of exhibition, and external review by the University community and the general public.
Works by Ceramics and 3-D Design Classes
Hyman Fine Arts Center Gallery
April 2 – May 4, 2019
8:30 am – 5:00 pm, Monday-Friday
Students in ceramics classes learn processes and techniques in both wheel-throwing and hand building in the art and craft of pottery. Throwing leads progressively toward stoneware clay tooling, decorating, glazing and firing. As they advance through the curriculum, students add ceramic fabrications methods of slabwork, modeling from solid masses, and press molding. Multi-part forms and porcelain formula clay bodies are created as artistic discipline develops along with the individual’s philosophy, critical awareness and aesthetics.
Students taking Three-Dimensional Design classes investigate organization techniques, with special emphasis on the plastic controls of form and space. They learn to use a variety of tools and various sculptural media, including wood, plaster and clay.
