February 2019 2

Asheville’s Longest Established Fine Art Gallery with 31 Regional Artists
Asheville Gallery of Art 's February Artists
“Baby Boomer” by Susan Webb Tregay Susan Webb Tregay “Trash to Treasure” mixed media “30x36”
by Joseph Pearson
“Fresh Paint” stunning works from two new members
BY STAFF REPORTS • DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE
Asheville Gallery of Art’s February show,
“Fresh Paint,” features the work of two new
members.
Joseph Pearson’s figurative work and Susan
Webb Tregay’s folk-art inspired paintings to provide
a thought-provoking and captivating display.
In the summer of 1970, Joseph A. Pearson arrived
by bus at New York City’s Port Authority, the
end of a long trip that began in Mississippi. It was
the first time the recent Jackson State graduate
had traveled north of his home state. Joseph’s
New York journey, to study at the Art Students
League for five years under full scholarship, was
his first step in a lifelong odyssey to become
a social realist painter. His lifetime of creativity
reflects his belief in the power of art to provoke
and expand society’s imagination. “I see my role
as both observer and activist,” he says. “I watch
what’s going on around me, internalize and mix
it with my creative interpretation, and reflect it to
society.”
For this show, Joseph is presenting paintings
from a body of work on recycling and renewal
that began with an investigation into how nature
reclaims elements through decay and deterioration.
“I am using the female form to represent the
idea of rebirth, renewal, and repurposing. One
element changes into another form. In this case,
the female form morphs into the new element
or product. These paintings combine traditional
oil painting with disparate recyclable elements.”
Joseph, a multi-award winning artist, has recently
completed a mural and paintings of historic Black
businesses in Asheville for the Benne on Eagle
restaurant at the new Foundry Hotel.
With brilliant colors and a unique technique,
Susan Webb Tregay blends her thoughts on
childhood with her love of Southern Folk Art, her
traditional art education, and 30 years of painting
experience. Susan says her “palette took a walk
on the wild side” eleven years ago when she
moved from Buffalo, NY, and met the late Ted
Oliver of Oliver’s Folk Art in her new hometown
of Hendersonville, NC. Ted’s enthusiasm for folk
art educated her in the ways these artists were
concerned about expressing their ideas before
they even considered media or technique. “Unlike
what was encouraged in Buffalo, I found that
content could be cheerful and expressed in fun,
bright colors.”
The works featured in the show are part of
series in acrylics she calls “Art for Adult Children,”
which recall her memories of the freedoms
of childhood. The Hickory Museum of Art and
the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts in Boone,
NC, have both honored the series with museum
shows. Although like many artists, she has
painted since she was a child, her breakthrough
in art came through submersion in the medium
of watercolor as an adult. She is a signature
member of both the American Watercolor Society
and the National Watercolor Society and has won
significant awards nationally and internationally.
She is the author of many articles, two books,
and formerly served as art critic for a Rockford,
IL, newspaper.
Asheville Gallery of Art
The work of Pearson and Tregay, as well as
the work of the other 29 gallery members, will
be on display and for sale through February. The
show runs February 1-28 during gallery hours, 11-
6pm Monday-Saturday and 11-4pm Sunday. 82
Patton Avenue in downtown Asheville across from
Pritchard Park. A reception for the artists on Friday,
February 1, from 5-8pm. Everyone is cordially
invited to stop by.
For further information about this show, contact
the Asheville Gallery of Art at (828) 251-5796, visit
the gallery’s website, www.ashevillegallery-of-art.
com, or the gallery’s Facebook page.
14 |RAPID RIVER’S ARTS & CULTURE MAGAZINE Vol. 22, No. 06 — February 2019
IF
YOU
GO
“Coffeed Urn” mixed media
“40x30” by Joseph Pearson