Vol. 15, No. 3 March 2011 - Carolina Arts

ART With A FutureCharleston’s location forLocal Contemporary ArtJoe Walters Nest (detail) ©2011Corrigan Gallery in Charleston,SC, Offers Works by Joe WaltersCorrigan Gallery in Charleston,SC, will present the exhibit, A Riff onNests, featuring sculptures and works onpaper by Joe Walters, in his first show inCharleston in many years, on view fromMar. 2 - 31, 2011. A reception will be heldon Mar. 4, from 5-8, during the FrenchQuarter Gallery Association Artwalk.Hailing from Kentucky and havingmoved to Charleston in 1995, Walters hasalmost yearly had a solo show since 1990.Walters’ works come from his observationof the natural world. He manipulates“unorthodox materials” to create his interpretationof objects and to “freeze themin an instant.” Using polymer clay, steel,glue, sand, paint and wire, the crusty surfacesof Walters’ sculptures mimic metalcorroded with age arrested at a point of interest.His Calderesque ability to use castshadows as another dimension, especiallycreating the sense of images reflected inwater, has developed over time.The tradition of “still life,” capturingin material form thefleeting nature of life,is present in the worksas, for Walters, the continualcycle of growthand deterioration is anexample of the delicatebalance between lifeand death - a vanitasin three dimensions.Nests are temporaryhomes that althoughwell built usually lasta season versus thehomes man attempts tobuild. Man today doesseem to remain onlytemporarily in any onehome as the transitorynature of birds is nowmore often imitatedthan in the past.Even more, Waltersspeaks to human beings’interaction withnature. He regardsthe individual plantand animal forms asminimal shapes andelements that create anew play on the spacein which they are placed. When viewedfrom various directions, the sculptures andthe shadows they produce create a livelyinteraction of space and a reflection ofnature.The works on paper are spellbinding.They mimic the rust colored look ofcontinued above on next column to the rightthe sculptures. Produced by piercing thepaper, dying it with tea, bleaching backout areas and scrubbing, they look likecrusty pieces of hide. One’s first instinctis to touch them and feel the differencebetween the objective areas and the openspaces. The subject matter is extremelyabstract yet there are marshscapes andbotanical images very present.Walters is widely shown throughoutthe Southeast, Florida and New York.The same year he moved to Charlestonhe received a Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts RegionalFellowship. He had received aSouth Carolina Arts Commission VisualArts Fellowship in 1996. He has exhibitedat the Weatherspoon Art Museum,Greensboro, NC, Jacksonville Museumof Modern Art, FL, Columbia Museumof Art, SC, SECCA in Winston-Salem,NC and Piccolo Spoleto: ContemporaryCharleston 2004.Walters holds a MFA in sculpture fromEast Carolina University, Greenville, NC.His sculptural installations are includedin such notable collections as the KemperMuseum of Art, Kansas City, ClemsonUniversity, SC, and Emory University,Atlanta, GA. His works are in collectionsat the AON Center, Monsanto Corporation,Fujisawa Healthcare Inc. in Illinois;Agnes Scott College, InterContinental Ho-tel, Emory University, IL British Airways,and Hartsfield International Airport inGeorgia; the Mint Museum, Spirit SquareCenter for the Arts, Charlotte in NorthCarolina; Clemson University, Universityof South Carolina at Sumter and PalmettoBluff Resort in South Carolina; the UnitedStates Embassy, Istanbul, Turkey; andMetro Zoo, University of Florida, Schoolof Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville.Walters has had solo shows at MintMuseum of Craft + Design in Charlotte,NC, Owensboro Museum of Fine Art,KY, Jacksonville Museum of Art, FL, TheLandmark Gallery, Texas Tech University,Lubbock as well as the Halsey Institute atCollege of Charleston, SC, and the Museumof York County, Rock Hill, SC. Includedin group exhibitions from Floridato California, Walters has also has worksshown at Art Miami and the MontalvoArts Center, Saratoga, CA.Corrigan Gallery, now in its sixth year,is a culmination of 23 years of experiencein the Charleston art market. The galleryrepresents more than a dozen artists in anintimate space and presents 6 to 10 showsper year with the gallery being refreshedevery month. Other gallery artists areManning Williams, Duke Hagerty, MaryWalker, Kristi Ryba, Sue Simons Wallace,Gordon Nicholson, John Moore, WilliamMeissburger, Lese Corrigan, PaulMardikian and John Hull.Visiting artists are included in theyearly roster with most of the artist beingeither Charleston natives or individualsliving in Charleston. A gallery of contemporaryworks exploring the depth andintellect behind the drive to create, CorriganGallery provides a breathing spacearound the historic city’s traditional bent.Open six days a week and other times byappointment, the gallery can be viewed 24hours a day on the Internet.For further information check our SCCommercial Gallery listings, call the galleryat 843/722-9868 or visit(www.corrigangallery.com).You can contact us by calling 843/825-3408 or by e-mail at - info@carolinaarts.comCarolina Arts, March 2011 - Page 21