Opening Reception
Friday, January 19th, 2024
7:00 - 10:00 PM
free and open to the public
Exhibition runs through March 1,2024
We are pleased to invite you to our first exhibition of 2024, our annual works on paper exhibition THE NEW SOUTH V.
This exhibition features 56 artists creating works from across the Southeast. There were over 800 submissions of which 80 works were selected by our esteemed jurors William Downs and Wesley Terpstra.
TNS V ARTISTS:
Mary Hartman, Johnny Draco, CHR!S REEL, Elise Lyon, Leeann Rae, Serena Perrone, Taro Takizawa, Christine Baum, Sharon Shapiro, Tara Segars, Katie Hargrave, Allison Johnson, Fiorella Escalon, Lanny Brewster, Heather Szatmary, Gabrielle Morse, Shana Bowes, Anna Dean, Sydney Hendrix, Nancy Blum, Evan Helgeson, Ella Hopkins, Golnoush Behmanesh, Ana Gardiner, Christopher Dennis, Elisa Dore, Lydia Campbell, Erik Waterkotte, Asia Hanon, Sierra Kazin, Matthew Sugarman, Allen Peterson, Lucas Wiman, Brandon Williams, Scott Lowden, Tikva Lantigua, Sean Sweeney, Amber McCants, Truett Dietz, Jessica Swank, Thomas Flynn II, Nicholas Jones, Kati Lowe, Megan Reeves Williamson, Robb Lejuwaan, Manty Dey, Kaleigh Fitzgerald, Lauren Lesley, Rachel Evans Grant, Alex Mikev, Sarah Keys, Derrick Beasley, Noah Beich, Flizzie Thompson, Laura Cleary Williams & Axelle Kieffer
New South V: The Gestalt Result
by Wesley TerpstraHave you ever been to a party where you spent the evening speaking with a lot of different people? You were carried along by a shared stream of consciousness, responding to memories, impressions, chance encounters, verbal processing of recent events, and offering empathy, comradery, or commiseration. By the end of the evening, you’ve been all over, mentally, you’re left with an overall impression of the experience. The variety of conversations are simultaneously mixing and contrasting in your head. You have a sense of the “conversation” of the evening. I’ll refer to this, for the sake of writing, as “The Gestalt Result”.
This is what I was left with after viewing all the entries. Each of the submissions had a distinct thing to say. Some spoke quite clearly and pointedly to one another. Others offered surprising contrast or contradictions that enlivened the conversation.
I was left with the impression of drifting through a party, catching bits of conversations as I went, stepping back, and letting the common themes of the conversations meld together to an overall impression, and then, after reflection, going back to revisit the conversation and add detail to some of the impressions.
The “conversation” is the theme that I am always looking for in collections of work, be it by an individual or a group. What is the “conversation” between the works? How do I see similarity or difference with concept, compositions, value, texture, use of color, shape, etc.? This is what produces the impression that is beyond a specific work. The conversation that grows beyond listening to one person dominate the party. This is “The Gestalt Result” and, for me, it makes viewing more exciting and fulfilling. I’m left with the same impression as when I’ve left a party filled with different conversations.
The impressions that people would gain from going to the same party will be as different as the people themselves. The content of the conversations is filtered through our own preferences, hindrances, and chance. The impression is formed with the influence of our history, mood, expectations, etc. My hope is that the individuals experiencing The New South V will leave with their own “Gestalt Result” that will have some highlights (stand-out conversations) and will remain as a stream of thought for them long after they have returned home.