Two art exhibits open for March
The USC Aiken Etherredge Center is home to two new art exhibits during the month of March. There will be an opening reception held on Monday from 6:30 until 8 p.m.
Columbia artist Michael Dwyer’s abstract work is on display in the upper gallery, and Louisiana artist Troy Wingard’s pastel and gold life creations are on exhibit in the lower level gallery.
Both artists were hand-selected by gallery director Anne Bliss for their unique styles. Bliss’ goal is to introduce gallery visitors to a diverse collection of works.
Dwyer, exhibition designer and preparator at the Columbia Museum of Art, comes from a family of artists and grew up with a passion for art.
“As a kid, I loved visiting my dad’s studio. I liked the spattered dishevelment, the smell of paint, and the paintings that I couldn’t fully understand, but instinctively got in the process of coming to life. I knew at an early age that this was something I wanted to pursue,” Dwyer wrote in his artist statement.
His work is abstract and comes from a belief “that in any visual art, there are abstract elements which need to function well for the work to succeed.”
Dwyer will be present to discuss his work at the opening reception.
Wingard, foundations coordinator for the Department of Visual Art at Southeastern Louisiana University, works in pastel and gold leaf to create portraits that feel like you are staring at a photograph. The subjects are so real, you can feel them staring at you from the canvas. His work has been described as “paintings and drawings that address questions centering on individualism and the shared experiences of others.”
“It has been my attempt to capture the subtle expressiveness of the human figure and reinforce the image with my own symbolism for creating not just an accurate representation of form, but an artifact that radiates with the understanding of how important and unique my experiences are to me,” said Wingard in an artist statement.
The reception is free and open to the public. The Etherredge Center is located on the USC Aiken campus.
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