If you haven’t been yet, you have until July 31 to go see Art on Paper at the Callen McJunkin Gallery. This show is packed with established regional and national artists from a variety of different backgrounds, many with strong ties to West Virginia. The broad range of media and sheer volume of work in the gallery at the moment make this show worth checking out. Part of Callen McJunkin’s intention in showing these works exclusively together was to give them all equal footing in the gallery, as she has found that works on paper can struggle next to large, bright paintings on the gallery walls. Here, it works. Delicate pencil drawings and airy prints hold their own in this densely packed show, creating a fervent energy in the room which draws one into the intense detail contained in each piece.

It’s definitely worth your time to ask Callen McJunkin, or one of the helpful gallery attendants, about the work. As we stood in front of Pond’s Edge IV by Michael Mazur, McJunkin explained the artist’s interest in Chinese calligraphy, and brought up traditional landscape scrolls as a reference point for viewing this abstract painting. It’s quite a luxury to look at a piece of art in person with someone so passionate and knowledgeable about the work standing right next to you. (more…)

Photos by Paula Clendenin. Click to enlarge.

West Virginia State University students and staff staged a most unconventional “Drive Thru Art Show” in an alley between Hale and Capitol streets as part of the recent 2008 FestivALL Charleston citywide cultural event. Here is some documentary material to inspire future alley artists.

Painting by Josh Saul, from the Hansford Street Art Show, titled “Nuking the Site from Orbit is the Only Way to be Sure.” Click to enlarge.

Sour: Summer vacations. Ten days of FestivALL Charleston. The 4th of July and the Ripley Arts and Crafts Festival. Incessant fireworks at the ballpark (the things that “spark” — hee-hee — controversy in this town). White shortpants and flip-flops. Flea collars and spray-on sunscreen. Potato salad and baked beans. Endless wet bars and infinity pools. Everyone survive summer so far? Keeping with Dane Klingaman’s baseball theme in the recent blog below: It’s Summer’s Seventh Inning Stretch. So, what’s the score?”
Sweet: “I think the past two months have been BY FAR THE BEST visual arts months in the Charleston area’s history. The overwhelming number of excellent visual art displays and associated events during FestivALL alone is staggering (and I don’t mean from too much wine and cheese at the openings). Plus so much more! I could go on and on for days! (more…)

Charleston artist Chris Dutch received the Best of Show Award at the Best of West Virginia Juried Exhibition held at Tamarack in Beckley. The exhibit runs through Aug. 3 in Tamarack’s David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery. The award, given for Dutch’s untitled stained-glass panel depicting a life-size human figure, (click image at left for larger size) includes a $2,000 cash prize sponsored by a gift to the Tamarack Foundation from David L. and Linda Dickirson.

The jurors also chose for inclusion “Gaudi’s Dweller,” a collaborative mixed-media sculpture by Dutch and Robin Hammer, which was featured earlier this year in their installation “Rite of Spring” at the Clay Center’s art museum.

Other winners were:
Second place: John Nofsinger, Gary, digital painting
Third place: Lori Doolittle, Richwood, pottery
Merit Awards: Bruce Haley, Charleston, photography, “The Mill Runs Dry” and Mark Tobin Moore, Charleston, mixed media, “Imaginary New Orleans”