News > Artists’ Visions of a Modern Charleston

GALLERY SHOW – FOCUS IN

by Sarah Miller

Greg Hart, Look Away, 48″ x 56″, acrylic on canvas, $2000

“There is a spotlight on Charleston right now. People are finally embracing modern art and including it in the makeup of Charleston,” says Anne Siegfried, owner of The George Gallery.

Focus In, opening March 10 at The George Gallery, features three Charleston artists who are catalysts in this evolving art scene. “I chose Alan Jackson, Kate Long Stevenson, and Greg Hart because they each have a distinct individual aesthetic, and all three of them are part of the larger narrative of what is happening here and now,” says Siegfried.

ALAN JACKSON

Alan Jackson fosters the relationship between his career as an architect and his desire to create works of art. “I have lived in Charleston for almost 40 years and grew up in Savannah, so I have been heavily influenced by the two cities, which have very rich architectural heritages. This has had a deep and powerful influence on how I see spaces, shapes, colors, light and shadow, textures, and patterns. Both cities have a uniquely human scale with a wealth of texture and congeniality. Living in Charleston has also shaped how I process the relationships inherent in cities between the people and the natural and the built environments,” explains Jackson.

Alan Jackson, Random Cellular Grin in Blue, 16×16

One particular piece in Focus In entitled “Maai: Harmony of Space” was influenced by Jackson’s study of the martial art of Aikido. In Japanese martial arts Maai means the “interval or engagement distance between two opponents in combat.”

“He is always looking at scale and balance, lines and grids,” says Siegfried. “Structure is what comes to the forefront of Alan’s work.”

KATE LONG STEVENSON

Abstract expressionist painter Kate Long Stevenson taps into the concept of classical forms with a modern approach. “It’s important to me that my paintings have a subject, despite how non-subjective some can seem. With my nude paintings, the figure is the vehicle that invites you to discover the true subject: the way it was painted,” says Stevenson.

Kate Long Stevenson, Two Figures Lilac, 48 x 48

“Her work is a perfect example of paying homage to the past, while bringing a new voice to the present,” says Siegfried. Exploring the female form through color, texture, and gestural washes, Stevenson’s works on canvas give off energy.

GREG HART

“Greg Hart spends a great deal of time collecting imagery, working mostly in urban areas to capitalize on the energy the city offers,” explains Siegfried.

Greg Hart, Senators II, 36 x 36, diptych

Hart began preparing for this show by creating a diptych of two morally conflicting SC senators, John C. Calhoun and Clementa Pinckney. “The [initial] concept was to show an instigator of slavery expansion and the lingering impact of that corrosive institution on the present. But as I was doing the two portraits, I began listening to [recordings] of Pinckney speaking, and it caught me off guard. His words were the common thread that explained the seemingly disjointed series that I had been doing,” said Hart.

Greg Hart, Senators I, 36 x 36, diptych, $2000

FOCUS IN
On view March 10 – 31, 2017
Opening Reception: Friday, March 10, 5-8pm
The George Gallery | 50 Bogard St, Charleston 29403

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