FEATURED ARTIST: September 2010
'Secret Hours' is the first in a series of three exhibitions showcasing North Carolina artist Alison Overton's new foray into the digital photography medium. This recently created body of work reveals a great departure in subject matter, style, and size for Overton. Previously she had worked exclusively with analog (wet) processes in photography, creating medium format silver gelatin prints of architectural landscapes and statues, subsequently hand-tinting the prints with oil paints.
The new subject matter of the photographs consists of antique dolls and curious objects juxtaposed with unusual flora and fauna. The dolls and other objects are items which Overton found this past year while clearing out her childhood home in Vance County, North Carolina. Her parents had collected all manner of things obsessively for decades. For Overton, the objects attracted her as she came to realize that they represented both real and imagined childhood memories, for both her and her parents.
For example, the dolls represent to Overton her mother's love for toys, as well as her mother's lack of childhood belongings as a result of growing up poor in the 1930's. The other objects reveal her father's interest in all manner of unusual items, as well as his lovingly eccentric personality.
Overton posed the dolls with plants and flowers, along with non-threatening deceased mammals and insects to visually communicate her ideas of long-ago children quietly playing, daydreaming, imagining and manifesting their personal toy-worlds. Overton believes that children, uninfluenced by adults' fears and ideas, possess free and fearless imaginations, and are unafraid of what adults judge to be "bad" or "dirty".
Digital photography is a brand new working method for Overton. In 2008 she had attempted to make doll and object photographs using three different format film cameras, and hand tinting the prints, with varying degrees of success.
After realizing that she desired the work to have a bright and colorful, surreal, pop art visual feel, Overton experimented with a simple 5 Megapixel Canon Digital Elph, shooting the images very close in macro lens mode. The images were then cropped to square format and altered minimally to achieve the desired whimsical yet eerie feeling.
Also, the larger size and presentation represents a departure from Overton's previous work. The pieces on display are 24' x 24' square, have been professionally printed onto heavy 100% cotton rag paper, and are mounted on white wood hollow boxes.
The show will be on display from September 1st to the 30th. Opening reception will be held on Saturday September 4th from 5pm until 8pm.
GROUP SHOW: September 2010
There's no denying it, but many of us were raised by that glorious invention, the television. We marched down the stairs on Saturday mornings to eat cereal and watch endless hours of TV. There was no need for childhood imagination because there were cartoons. These cartoons raised us, they created us, and they still influence us today. With 'Saturday Morning Cartoons ReImagined', a group of artists salute some of the characters that shaped their childhood and their artistic vision.
The exhibition will feature work from such artists as; Sam Causon, Jason Chalker, Myque the Rabid Ninja Squirrel, Phantoms Siren, Jason Strutz and more. The show will be on display from September 1st to the 30th. Opening reception will be held on Saturday September 4th from 5pm to 8pm.
Cabaret Style Life Drawing
What do voluptuous burlesque performers, acro-yogaists, circus performers, fire dancers, models, and starving artists have in common... Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School! Thought you had to be from one of those big cities to enjoy a session of artistic debauchery? I submit that you DO NOT! We are very happy to announce that we have joined forces with the Raleigh branch of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School.
And, on Saturday September 25th, 2010, we invite you to bring your sketchbook and join us for 99 Ballons Rouges! Balloons, Ballerinas, music and more. Drawing begins at 2pm, and it's $6 per person.
Purveyors of Fine Art & What-not
Imagine a space filled with art, designer toys, books, and an in-house seamstress. Impossible? Take a turn about downtown Pittsboro and you will stumble upon Davenport & Winkleperry, a gallery and retail space that offers all those extraordinary things along with other amusing oddities for your purchase, most with a hint of the Victorian aesthetic. Tucked on shelves you will find action figures of Oscar Wilde, tomes of Jules Verne, vintage gasmasks, one-of-a-kind jewelry, fantastical sweets and more. Even the mannequins are a treat to look at, dressed finely in the waistcoats and bustles skirts made by the in-house seamstress. The art on the walls changes every month showcasing the works of creative people from around the globe.
Join us as we help others to modernize the artistic expression of the Victorians with our real present and imagined future.
Come visit our brick-and-mortar store and gallery space, located at 18A East Salisbury Street in the quaint downtown of Pittsboro, NC. We are open Tuesday through Saturday 11am to 7pm. We look forward to seeing you!
What is Neo-Victorian?
Well, Neo-Victorian is an aesthetic movement which combines Victorian and Edwardian aesthetic sensibilities with modern principles and technologies.
So, what is Steampunk?
Steampunk goes hand in hand with the Neo-Victorian style. Various modern utilitarian objects have been modified by enthusiasts into a pseudo-Victorian mechanical or "steampunked" version.
Example objects include push-button cordless telephones made to look like antique wall-mounted phones, CD players resembling old time radios, Victorianesque furniture, Victorian era-style clothing, computer keyboards and electric guitars. The goal of such redesigns is to employ appropriate materials with design elements and craftsmanship consistent with the Victorian era but with elements of a futuristic nature.
For a very long explanation, go here.
