Friday, June 4, 2010: Public Opening and First Friday Reception, 7-10pm

Thursday, June 10, 2010: Panel Discussion, 6:30pm
Friday, July 2, 2010: First Friday Reception, 7-10pm

Change of Pace, curated by Jay Barrows, features new work by artists from 1708 Gallery’s Emeritus Council, a prestigious group of former 1708 Gallery board members. Join us for the opening reception on Friday, June 4 at 7:00 p.m. The exhibition will be on view through Saturday, July 3rd.

 The selected artists include Don Crow, Georgianne Stinnett, Chris Gregson, Tom Chenoweth, Willie Anne Wright, Brad Birchett and Pam Anderson. “Each of these artists is venturing out into a slightly different direction from their usual work. The differences and new directions they have chosen may appear to be slight or inconsequential, but in the scheme of making art, it is the subtle changes made over and over again that can eventually lead to the next body of work” explains curator, Jay Barrows.

Jay Barrows has been the Curator for the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection from 1996 to the present. He was the Assistant Curator for BEST Products Collection from 1983 to 1996 and the assistant Curator for the Sydney and Frances Lewis Collection from 1972 to 1996.

 

THE ARTISTS:

Don Crow, a painter and collage artist, explains his work in the exhibition as arising, “from my years of experience with oil on canvas and painted paper collage as well as from my more recent experimentation with digital photography and commercial design. The work reflects my desire to explore both design and painting from the view of a non-native speaker, open to language, open to meaning.”

Crow received his BFA and MFA from the Painting and Printmaking Department at VCU. He has been awarded numerous grants and distinctions, including the Theresa Pollak Visual Art award as well as inclusion in a Virginia Museum exhibition. Crow is an Assistant Professor at VCUQ, Virginia Commonwealth University, School of the Arts in Doha, Qatar.

Georgianne Stinnett’s photographs of taxidermist’s armatures express her interest in the relationship between human, animal and a higher power. The animals she chooses to photograph most often are those used by ancient cultures during ritual sacrifice, further emphasizing that connection between mortals, divinities and animals.

 Stinnett earned a BA in Environmental Sciences from UVA and an MFA in Photography from VCU. Among many other honors, she was the recipient of the 2007 Theresa Pollak Award for Photography. She is currently an Instructor of Photography at the Maggie Walker Governor’s School.

Chris Gregson’s recent grid-like paintings involves a process that combines a “thought, a feeling and a mark”. Gregson states, “The image emerges from the application of the paint. I repeat forms over and over again once they are revealed.” His panel arrangement is an attempt to “bring the viewer into the painting and lead them on a journey of multiple views or themes on the same subject.”

Gregson studied at the Studio and Forum of Stage Design in NYC under Lester Polakov, assisted stage designer Peter Wexler, and worked as a stage artist at the Julliard School of Music and Brooklyn’s Chelsea Theatre. He has lectured at the Southeastern College Arts Conference, been guest critic and speaker at Virginia Commonwealth University, University of Mary Washington and the Virginia Association of Museums. Currently, as one of the founders of the Constructs Group, his paintings have been appearing at University galleries, Museums and alternative art spaces throughout the Commonwealth since 2005.

Tom Chenoweth’s Wire Guy is the latest piece in a series on the theme of towers. The main material of the sculpture is guy wire typically used by phone & power companies to steady and secure their poles. Chenoweth describes the material as always being under tension, yet with this piece he’s “used it in the opposite way, under compression to create the sculpture’s structure. My intent is to explore and celebrate the nature and properties of the material.”

Chenoweth earned his BFA in sculpture from the Maryland Institute, College of Art and his MFA in sculpture from VCU. He was one of the original founders of 1708 Gallery. He and his wife, a fellow artist, own Astra Design, a small retail gallery in Richmond, Virginia where their work is sold. For more info, please visit: www.astradesign.com

Willie Anne Wright’s Lumen prints feature “the exotic pendulous blossoms” of her beloved Brugmansia plant, BoBo. The fresh blooms were placed on light sensitive paper, topped with a sheet of glass and exposed for hours to sunlight. After the exposure, the paper was fixed chemically in the darkroom as an archival gelatin silver print. As Willie Anne notes, “Credit for the result goes to nature and photo chemistry, the artist is the facilitator.”

Wright holds a BS in Psychology from the College of William and Mary and an MFA in Painting from VCU (RPI). Her paintings, prints, and drawings have been exhibited regionally since 1964. Since 1972, her pinhole photographs have been shown internationally. Her work is included in the collections of numerous individuals and institution. For more info please visit: www.willieannewright.com

 Brad Birchett’s mixed media paintings and reflect his unique process of creation. “In the environment, I travel, walk, collect, document, and rearrange using installation, audio, and other media or interventions” and “in the studio, a second form of physical memory takes place through the manipulation of documentation, drawing, photography, audio, collections, paintings, and various forms of mixed media layered in rhythms and multiples.”

 Birchett received a BS from Virginia Tech in Biology with a minor in Fine Arts and an MFA degree in Visual Art from Vermont College of Fine. He has been a guest artist-lecturer for the Center for the Arts: Henrico Public Schools and the VCU Honors College, curator for many exhibitions including Richard Carlyon: A Retrospective for 1708 Gallery, and juror for the Mary Washington University Undergraduate Exhibition. He is an Assistant Professor and Advisor for VCU School of the Arts and University College. For more info please visit: http://bradbirchettart.blogspot.com

 Pam Anderson’s Equation Series features mixed media works on paper that “both chronicle and commemorate events of recent loss or disappointment.” She explains that her “intention is not to wallow in sadness and confusion, more to reiterate that joy does not occur without its opposite.”

 Anderson received her BA in Fine Art from the College of William and Mary her MFA in Painting from Washington University in St. Louis. She is a 2004 recipient of the VMFA Professional Artist Fellowship in Drawing and the 2009 recipient of the Theresa Pollak Award for Excellence in the Fine Arts. She currently teaches in the Upper School of Collegiate School. For more info, please visit: www.mapanderson.com