Artista Vista 2012 - OH BROTHER! Where ART thou?

Vista Studios Offers Bluegrass Theme for Artista Vista

2012 Artista Vista Gallery Crawl! Thursday 5 – 9, April 26 for Art Night and Friday, April 27 and Saturday, April 28.

Vista Studios has adopted and exhibition theme : “O Brother Where ART Thou” (Bluegrass). for the upcoming Artista Vista event April 19th through May 8th 2012.

Among the artists exhibiting will be a piece by Susan Lenz ,”My Bluegrass Roots,” which is comprised of an image transfer on a vintage blue-and-white quilt fragment with hand stitching and button embellishments. Lenz describes the piece,”When thinking of Bluegrass music, the theme of lost love in a wild and wonderful landscape comes to mind. This image is from my maternal Great Grandmother’s photo album and dates to the mid-1920s. I can almost hear a fiddle and banjo picking up this story of My Bluegrass Roots. Susans Blogg can be accessed at this address(http://artbysusanlenz.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-bluegrass-roots.html).

Laurie McIntosh will offer a painting,”She’s Already Gone With Her Red Shoes On,” is based on the lyrics from “Go to Sleepy Little Baby” from the motion picture “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack. Other works that will be shown are from her ongoing series of “All the In Between,” a narrative series of a life lived.

Michel McNinch will offer the oil painting “Late Night Songs, which features figures engaging musical instruments associated with the Bluegrass theme. www.michelmcninch.com.

Kirkland Smith will be presenting a new portrait created from post-consumer waste. Commissioned by Department of Commerce employees, this portrait of SC Secretary of Commerce, Bobby Hitt, includes some of his own waste to create an image that represents not only his likeness, but his “likes” as well. Presented as a surprise, his wife and employees secretly collected materials to include in the Assemblage to make the portrait more personal and relevant to him.

Sculptor Pat Gilmartin will be showing a number of new works, including one that connects with this year’s theme of Bluegrass music. Entitled “Sit Down and set a While,” the piece incorporates several found objects and sculpted details pertaining to Bluegrass. In addition, she will display some new figurative pieces, both realistic representations of the human figure and a more abstracted series, showing blocky, angular figures reminiscent of certain indigenous cultures. The meaning of the members of the latter series is ambiguous, as is its title: “Is it Better to Remember or to Forget?”

Other Vista studio Artist exhibiting include: Ethel Brody, Stephen Chesley, Jeff Donovan, Robert Kennedy, Sharon Licata, Heidi Dar Hope, David Yaghjian, and Laura Spong. Further Information is available at the Vista Studio Site; (http://gallery80808.blogspot.com/)

Entertainment:

Come on out and hear the PALMETTO PORCH PICKERS play old-time mountain music, it’ll make you want to tap your toes, and maybe do an elbow swing with an innocent bystander. Old-time music is the granddaddy of Bluegrass… it was played for square dances , pot luck suppers , and anytime people got together to visit in the hills. Yeah, we live in the Sandhills, but come on down to the Vista and get a dose of porch music….it’ll make you feel GOOD! Got a jug? Bring it and play along, or just pass it around for the band to take a sip. See ya there !

The players are:

Kathy Bradley , playing guitar, fiddle, and accordion [they had those in the mountains? Naw. But she has one] Previous bands are: The Fabulous Porkskins, Granny Gotta Gig, and currently SLAP WORE OUT.

Kenny Barnes, playing bass and guitar. Previous band was The Homeboy Discount Band from Charleston.

Andrew Berger, playing banjo and guitar, hopscotch and checkers.

Jack McGregor, playing guitar, mandolin, harmonica . Other bands are SLAP WORE OUT and the WHATEVER BAND.

Ray Murphy , playing a mean, mean banjo and guitar. He has played with the CHARLESTON BLUEGRASS SOCIETY , the TIRED HANDS, and THE HOMEBOY DISCOUNT BAND.

The Travelers’ Trio, Friday 4/27 12 3-5, featuring Kerk Spong on acoustic guitar, Robert Key on mandolin, and Vernon Dehart on stand up bass will be playing Friday 4/27 12 3-5 at 80808 Gallery/Vista Studios, 808 Lady Street. The Trio will plays a eclectic mix of country, traditional and bluegrass. Everything from Jimmy Martin to Marshall Tucker Band with a little Dylan, Haggard and Monroe on the side. Come on out for a lot of fun.