Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Modern Times...modern ideas


bittersweet    48x48   mixed media on canvas

So what is an artist to do during a recession?  It doesn't make sense to stop painting or sit back and wait until things turn around.   I wanted my show, but it is terribly expensive to promote art exhibitions in the traditional ways.  With galleries closing left and right it seemed to me to be a good time to make some changes. So my dealer and I came up with a plan; I offered to fore go the usual expenses of a solo show, in exchange I'm getting some extra time to "hang" in the space.  We skipped the expensive printed post cards and mailing and instead are promoting it entirely with free press, electronic media and social networking.  Below is the press release.  (wish us luck!)

 June 7, 2010 

City Art
1224 Lincoln St
Columbia, SC 29201


COLUMBIA, S.C.--- City Art Gallery presents Santee artist Kathy Casey in a solo exhibit entitled Hot . . . a passion for painting opening Thursday June 17 and continuing through August 14, 2010.   The public is invited to a reception to meet the artist Thursday June 17 between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m.

Kathy Casey developed her unique painting style through a process of exploration and study.  The active lines and engrossing colors that fill Casey’s canvases show a strong influence of abstract expressionism.  In the newest paintings there is a recurring theme of warmth.  Reds, oranges, pinks and yellows mingle to create a sense of a heated urban or earthy landscape.  Casey’s work tends to be completely non-objective rather than tell a story.  This forces the viewer to be a participant and decide what something means. Casey likes to leave enough mystery so the viewer can decide his or her own connection to the works.

“The paintings that I love have a life of their own,” said Casey, “I have a quote by Jackson Pollock hanging on my studio wall: ‘Every good painter paints what he is.”

Her nonobjective paintings evoke the spirit of a natural evolution that results from the passage of time.  Each is about flux – the ever-changing nature of life.   There is no literary narrative in the work.  Instead, each piece serves as a metaphor for life:  birth and death, creation and decay, growth as a transformation.  Partially hidden words, either written in the artist’s hand or in the found collaged papers, often appear in the paintings and add personal meaning to the works.

The paintings in this exhibition of Casey’s work are done in mixed media including:  acrylics, charcoal, crayon and /or collage on hand-textured canvas or paper.  “I love to try new things,” she said, “It is just not in my nature to be still.  My palette goes from calming neutrals to crazy loud colors, and everything in between. It always depends on the day. My painting style is a mirror of my life.  Some days are peaceful and some days are all out wild. I don’t really have a favorite style.   I always like what I painted today better than what I painted yesterday and I hope it’s always like that.”

Exhibition dedicated to Harry Greenberg. 

City Art Gallery is located at 1224 Lincoln St. in the historic Congaree Vista area in Columbia, South Carolina.  Gallery hours are Monday – Friday 10:00 a.m. until 6 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.  For more information contact Wendyth Wells, City Art Gallery, at 803-252-3613.  Visit online at www.cityartonline.com

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