Tom Dimond - pictured with one of his painting. You can
just see a bit of the second on the left.
Abstract Art In South Carolina 1949-2012
This week marked the opening of a beautiful exhibition at the South Carolina State Museum in Columbia, SC. The exhibition features paintings and sculpture created by artists who have been instrumental in the development and appreciation of this approach to making art. Most, but not all, have taught in university, college or museum art programs and all have pursued active studios.
I was very pleased when Tom's work was selected to be included as he has dedicated his art life to abstract art and teaching. In addition to teaching painting at Clemson University and having an extensive list of exhibitions, Tom was the gallery director of the Rudolph E. Lee Gallery for many years and curated numerous exhibitions of artists from South Carolina as well as artists from across the US and Europe.
As I walked through the exhibition viewing the work it was like a meeting of old friends. While I did not know ALL the artists personally I knew most of them by their work and was pleased to see work by some of the younger artists I don't know or know as well.
Forty artists were exhibited for this show including John Acorn, Clemson; Carl Blair, Sharon Campbell, Betty Lee Coburn, Janet Dreskin, Tom Flowers, Paul Yanko, Enid Williams and Phil Whitley all from the Upstate. There is a slide-show of work HERE but it does not show work by all the artists.
Forty artists were exhibited for this show including John Acorn, Clemson; Carl Blair, Sharon Campbell, Betty Lee Coburn, Janet Dreskin, Tom Flowers, Paul Yanko, Enid Williams and Phil Whitley all from the Upstate. There is a slide-show of work HERE but it does not show work by all the artists.
I haven't taken an inventory of where the people in the show were born or where they studied but as a native of South Carolina I am pleased to say there are a number of people in the show who were born in the state. One of the most outstanding of that group is Merton Simpson. I plan to do a post of him soon and hope you'll come back and read his interesting story.
My one disappointment was what seemed to me as low attendance for the reception. Due to the drive back home we didn't stay until the end of the evening and I'm hoping there were many late comers. If you are in the area and want to see a strong selection of abstract work, I suggest you swing on by the museum. The show will be on view through August 26, 2012.
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