Columbia, SC’s First Thursday On Main Takes Place on June 7, 2012

Frame of Mind: FOM Series presents “More Oddities” by Kara Gunter.

The FOM Series is proud to present the unruly, the irregular, the art of discombobulation created by Kara Gunter specifically for this show.

Gunter states, “This body of work deals with confusion, being out of sorts or not in harmony with events and surroundings. Ideas of escape from an overworked mind and obsessive thinking, and of being able to reorganize the body in hopes of forming a new reality for one’s self. The new ‘reality’ which is created is, however, a sort of surreal dream state, in which nothing completely feels right or makes sense – where action is redundant and blind.”

Does this sound familiar? It should; this is month two of Gunter’s show. But this month, we are adding in more of her “odd” art and bringing along Kim Deslandes, as well. The gallery will be brimming over with the oddities that have filled their minds just for our show!

Our world famous, Seattle-based Circus emcee can’t be with us for the June FOM Series, BUT we’re bringing in music, belly dancing, fire eating and spinning, hula hooping, and some more sideshow marvels that are ever the crowd pleasers. The outdoor stage will be a whirl of activity that you don’t want to miss. Get ready to enjoy our guest performers: DJ Deft Key, Robin Souls, Columbia Hoops, Chris Carney, Kendal Turner, and Serpentine Belly Dance!

Anastasia & Friends present “Animal Lyfe” featuring works by Jarid Lyfe Brown.

Work by Jarid Lyfe Brown

For the month of June, Anastasia & Friends is proud to present “Animal Lyfe”, an exhibition of mixed media paintings created by artist Jarid Lyfe Brown. Brown’s anthropomorphic animals are presented as layered, outward interpretations of awkward, hurtful. Sometimes, even angry emotions that have trapped or currently have him trapped. Many of the works possess a sense of automaticism, a subconscious streaming of current thoughts, as he paints while others may have conscious thoughts he has experienced in the form of written phrases or words pertaining to the particular concept integrated within them … a journal of sorts.

Each one of these new, revealing pieces has been created with a highly layered process using oil, latex, spray paint, grease pencil, charcoal and oil bar, always leaving the initial layer exposed, as a form of history, so to speak. Upon closer examination, these remarkable works reveal a multitude of micro-paintings to the viewer.

Malik Whitaker, aka, the world famous DJ Sirius Black, will present an evening as the master of pop, rock, and soul with some auditory art that’ll thrill your ears.

Our beloved Maria Kennedy Mungo will sponsor some of her own savory edible art for you to enjoy as you explore this special exhibition.

“Animal Lyfe” will run from June 7 – 29, 2012. Anastasia & Friends gallery is located inside the Free Times’ building and is open to the public Monday through Friday from 9 am to 5 pm. For more information, contact Anastasia Chernoff at 803/665-6902.

S&S Art Supply offers “Find Me,” featuring paintings by Amy Windland.

S & S Art Supply is happy to feature a solo exhibition of paintings by local artist Amy Windland. Commonly described as whimsical, colorful, and simply lovely, Amy’s paintings transcend time and place, coming from somewhere within – her secret place to and from reality.

“’Find Me’ is a reference to the place I find myself while painting… absolutely lost and loving it”, says the artist. Many of her paintings consistently present a singular tree in a vast open landscape, which separates her from the world, with symbolic roots representing her need to stay grounded, while branches always reaching outwards, showing the expansive connections or limitations within all of us. “Since then I have added the elements of messages traveling from my secret places to and from reality by way of folded papers,” says Windland.

Born in Norfolk, VA, this Army brat grew up traveling mostly around the Southeast coast, continually discovering new landscapes and cultures. Windland also spent some time living in Germany. “My parents made it a big point to load my sister and I up in the car every other weekend or so while living in Europe to go and see somewhere new. Every little town on the map had some piece of history that needed to be explored, and my parents were going to make sure that we got to see it all. I got to travel a large portion of the continent of Europe, and wouldn’t trade that experience for the world.” Windland since then has studied art at the University of South Carolina’s Sumter and Columbia campuses, studying mainly drawing and painting. She has shown in several different capacities: galleries, craft fairs and festivals, state fairs, restaurants, spas, and magazine publications.

Tapp’s Art Center present the exhibit “Pretty Girls”.

Work by Katherine Perry

The second annual show will feature works by over 50 local artists, both male and female, and will display art consisting of individual, philosophical and/or political views on a consumerist view of feminism.

“Pretty Girls” is a mixed-media exhibition including 2-D to 3-D sculpture, interactive art, installation art, and traditional mediums. The opening reception will include a variety of performance art, music, dance and film. This collective showcases through a diversity of ideas their perceptions of consumer and feminist culture. The show will hang through the month of June.

Some of the artists include: Leslie Pierce, Stephen Chesley, Heidi Darr-Hope, Alejandro Garcia Lemos, Thomas Crouch, Kirkland Smith, Cedric Umojo, Claude Buckley, Reba Edwards, Molly Harrell, Merle Fendig, Amanda Ladymon, Anastasia Chernoff, Whitney LeJeune, Lucas Sams, and Jenna Sach.

Wine Down on Main features works by Mark Poole.

We are very excited to be presenting Mark Poole this June! A USC graduate and resident of Lexington, SC, his art has opened the door for extensive travels in America, Europe, Asia and Australia, attending shows, galleries and signings. Poole’s paintings and prints are collected worldwide.

Poole is also a worldwide award winning illustrator for over 20 years. He has illustrated over 1000 cards and conceptual images for various companies including Wizards of the Coasts, “Magic The Gathering,” White Wolfs “Vampire,” FASA’s “Battletech,” Blizzards’s “World of Warcraft,” History Channel, Hasbro, Sony Online Entertainment, Upper Deck, White Wolf, Alderac Entertainment, Ducks Unlimited, Cirque du Soliel, and “Doomtown”.  Just as an FYI, “Magic the Gathering” is one of the world’s biggest selling card games and has been translated in over 7 languages!

Poole works mainly in oil paints for his personal work. He also uses Adobe Photoshop with Corel’s “Painter” to provide illustrations, depending on the client and end result. Some work is solely created on the computer and then produced by the client digitally. Lately, he finds himself painting for galleries, private collectors, and for the pure enjoyment of pushing paint around and the never ending process of learning.

Please come out and join us as we celebrate Poole’s art work! His web site is (www.markpoole.net).

For further information contact Mark Plessinger by calling 803/988-1065 or e-mail at (frameofmind@sc.rr.com).

February’s First Thursdays on Main in Columbia, SC – Feb. 2, 2012, 5-9pm

Frame of Mind: FOM Series: The Photography of Preach Jacobs

One of Columbia’s own sons, Preach Jacobs is a photographer, a musician, an emcee, a journalist, and the founder of Sounds Familiar Records (www.soundsfamiliarrecords.com). He is also the editor of Mo’ Betta Soul magazine (www.mobettasoul.com). You can find this accomplished photographer’s award winning work on the covers of Vapors Magazine, Lo-Fi, and more. As a musician and emcee, he has shared the stage with the likes of 50 Cent, George Clinton, and Nelly, just to name a few. In fact, you can hear his latest single, “Baptized” at (http://bit.ly/uH2U8P).

For the February 2012 FOM Series, Preach will present photos of the people and places he has encountered during his world travels. Come and enjoy a fresh perspective, as documented by one of our favorite artists!

Anastasia & Friends: The Surreal Show Redux

Work by Lindsay Wiggins

For this month’s first Thursday art crawl on Main Street, Lindsay Wiggins and Anastasia Chernoff are co-hosting a redux of The Surreal Show. Surrealism is a movement in art and literature which began in the 1920′s that sought to release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, characterized by the evocative juxtaposition of incongruous images in order to include unconscious and dream elements. All of the artwork featured in the show was created using the surrealist approach and will include paintings, mixed media, photography, textiles and sculpture by Natalie Brown, Janice Dittmar, Nathan Fiveash, Libby Gamble, Kirill Simin, Lyra Stephens, Michelle Rogers, Lindsay Wiggins, and Anastasia Chernoff.

Surrealism stems from the subconscious mind, so it only made sense to invite Columbia’s most revered hypnotist!  Dr. G. Fredric Mau, board-certified hypnotist and owner of Watermark Hypnosis in Columbia, will offer rapid induction performance art as part of the show.  Dr. Mau will move volunteers into a hypnotic state very quickly – in 10 to 30 seconds – leading them through a variety of subconscious effects, including catalepsy, memory tricks, and anesthesia.  The rapid-induction performance will explore the way participants react to suggestions using the subconscious mind.  “The transition from an awake state to a hypnotic state can be achieved very quickly – almost as fast as turning a switch,” Mau says. “We do some of our best creative work when we relax, as anyone who has come up with a great idea in the shower knows. Hypnosis and art are collaborative partners.” We are honored and excited to have Dr. Mau as a part of the evening’s opening.

Many thanks go to the Roe Young State Farm Agency for sponsoring wine and cheese during the first Thursday reception.

S&S Art Supply: Futurespective – Lucas Sams, Early Masterworks

For First Thursday, S & S Art Supply presents Lucas Sams, and possibly a live music performance by a surprise group of local Jazz musicians! This exhibition chronicles a progression from the beginning of Lucas’ early work to more recent paintings. About his artwork, Lucas says, “My work is a visual synthesis of many varied sources of inspiration, from the Baroque to the Surreal. I don’t think about what I am going to create before I paint, allowing the work to evolve and essentially create itself.” He thinks of the artist as an effective conduit, approaching art-making like a mad scientist, combining traditional mediums with organic material and found objects, to create art that has a life of its own, transcending the normal boundaries of art on canvas.

Lucas Sams was born in Greenwood, SC, and has lived in South Carolina for most of his life. He has studied art at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, Temple University’s Japan Campus, and USC. He is a painter, musician, writer, and sculptor; he is also a resident artist at the Tapp’s Center for the Arts.

Tapp’s Art Center: THE COLLECTORS

Work by Eliot Dudik

Tapp’s Arts Center, Columbia’s center for art and music at 1644 Main Street, will show From Here to Mississippi, a photography exhibition. Tapp’s invites the public to mingle with the artists, see their work, and most importantly, celebrate the grand opening. University of South Carolina faculty, Kathleen Robbins and Eliot Dudik, both members of the photography department, will display some of their recent work. Robbins and Dudik will be joined by recent graduates and current student members of the University of South Carolina Photographic Society.

Also, in the spirit of giving and in celebration of the exhibition, Nature and the Grand American Vision, the Columbia Museum of Art, on Main Street in Columbia, SC, offers Pay-What-You-Wish admission on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2012, from 11am-8pm, courtesy of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina.

For further information contact Mark Plessinger by calling 803/988-1065 or e-mail to (frameofmind@sc.rr.com).

First Thursday on Main in Columbia, SC, Takes Place – Oct. 6, 2011

October brings Tricky Treats to Columbia, SC’s Main Street’s First Thursday on Oct. 6, 2011.

Frame of Mind: Ink
“Ink” is more than just skin deep; it is about the deeply meaningful art that is produced by some of the most talented (and under appreciated) artists in Columbia. Darcy Del Priore, Dave Iaquinta, Franklin McKenzie, Jeremy Lewis, Jonathon Cheston, and Shannon Purvis will represent the deep talent pool of Columbia artists who bring people’s dreams and passions to life. Stop in to experience the power of “Ink.”

And of course, Gervais and Vine will be in house serving up the wine, while the outdoor stage will be rocking with the music of DJ Deft Key and the usual showcase of fire and sideshow extravagance featuring Kendal Turner, Chris Carney, James Raley, Gina Wolfe, and Serpentine Belly Dance.

Anastasia & Friends:  Black Light, Black Night … an ultraviolet art experience.
Anastasia & Friends is hosting a very special show  with co-hosts Anastasia Chernoff, Paul Kaufmann, and Jennifer Baxley. This show will be quite different from most of our openings as the evening will be divided into three parts – Black Light, The Intermission, and Black Night.

Black Light is an ultraviolet art experience where everyone and everything will be completely immersed in black light. The windows of the gallery will be blacked out, and the gallery will be completely transformed into a sea of black light that will illuminate a combination of paintings, sculpture, mixed media, and photography that are all black light reflective.

Our Black Light artists are Amy Alley, Bohumila Augustinova, Jennifer Baxley, Michael Bolin, Anastasia Chernoff, Corey Rocbottom Davis, Scott Denis, Robin Gadient, Kara Gunter, Jonathan Inkley, Cade Kaufmann, Paul Kaufmann, Michael Krajewski, Amanda Ladymon, Whitney LeJeune, Dre Lopez, Lauren Maurer, Lucas Sams, Jason Stroud, Joseph Tolbert, Lindsay Wiggins, and Roe Young.

You’ll see the fabulous Fred Gldfngr in both the Light and the Night, molding his music medium into an artistic audio experience all night long!  Around 7:30 pm in front of the gallery, get ready for Unbound Dance to perform Thriller from their upcoming party “Carpe Noctem.”  Libations for Black Light will be sponsored by The Roe Young State Farm Agency.

So then we thought, hey! We’ve gone through all this time and expense to create this happening; we don’t want it to end yet. Why not take it a step further, create ANOTHER experience in the back of the building and include a party after the opening? Black Night was born!  A brief intermission will take place from 9:00 pm to 9:30 pm, and we will ask everyone to clear the gallery so we can prepare to reopen our doors for Black Night at 9:30pm.

Black Night will be a masquerade, after-party experience that takes place from 9:30 pm to 12:30 am with beer and wine, food, complimentary masquerade masks, music, and even more surprises. BIG THANKS to Maria Kennedy Mungo who will sponsor the gourmet delicacies for the Black Night portion of the evening.

Tickets for Black Night are $20 in advance and $25 at the door and can be purchased at (
http://www.blacklightblacknight.com/
). Check it out and get your tickets soon as we have a limited number available.

S&S Art Supply: Cartoon Violence, Cartoon Love: New Works by J. Spencer Shull
S&S Art Supply will be filled with thrills, chills, and cute n’ creepy creatures! This amazingly talented local artist has a HUGE show in store for you! In addition to the crazy fun artwork inside, there will be many more surprises as well! You can dance the night away on Main Street to the evening’s soundtrack musical stylings of Dr Scott Padgett D.R.R., or play dress up and get your photo taken with Red Road Portraits photo booth!

J. Spencer Shull is a self taught artist born and raised in South Carolina. His whimsical paintings are created using cel vinyl acrylic—the same paint used by old animation studios. His style incorporates aspects of cartoon illustration, pop surrealism, and lowbrow art. Although J. Spencer is not opposed to using canvas, he likes to paint on recycled materials as well. Some of his paintings have been done on old game boards, cigar boxes, reclaimed wood, antique books, old warrant flasks, and even a miniature series painted on playing cards. His works have been displayed in galleries in South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. He has received national recognition by being featured twice in STUFFED magazine as well as local recognition in South Carolina’s own Undefined magazine. Along with his wife Kelly Shull, J. Spencer runs Jellykoe, an art collective. The husband and wife duo specialize in making one of a kind plush monsters, as well as original 2-D artwork. Together, they have exhibited their work at art shows, festivals, and conventions in over eleven states. You can view more of their work at: (www.jellykoe.com) or (
http://www.artifictions.deviantart.com
).

Tapp’s Art Center:
Tapp’s Arts Center invites the public to mingle with this month’s artists/artists in residence and to see their work. Renovations are in progress at Tapp’s, and artists are moving into their studio spaces, many of which will be open at First Thursday to celebrate a year of First Thursdays at Tapp’s.

Many of the artists who have exhibited, volunteered, and supported the Tapp’s Arts Center during its inception and the past year of First Thursdays.  We’ve invited 25 of them back to be a part of this exhibit. Participating artists include Susan Lenz, Whitney Lejeune, Molly Harrell, Billy Guess, Jamie Blackburn, Thomas Crouch, Val Zaba, Amanda Ladymon, Lucas Sams, Rachel Borgman, Julie Larkin, Sam Compton, Porter Dodd, Deana Rennick, Sonju Quattlebaum, Gina Langston Brewer, Sammy Lopez, Amy Windland, Rachel Thomason, June Tucarella, Mathew John, Kimberly Bookman, Cedric Umoja, Sandra Carr, Gwyn Pevonka, and Claude Buckley.

The display windows now feature an installation called “A Fine Line: Between Collecting and Hoarding.”   Jackaroe and The Dubber will perform in the back room at 7pm.  This month, Keith Tolen will curate “Down Under” in the basement, and Thomas Washington, Rogers Boykin, Ed Nester, Janice Johnson, Derrick Davis, Ron “Gritsman” Ferguson and Porter Dodd will also participate in the exhibit.

To learn more about First Thursdays on Main at Tapp’s, call 803/988-0013 or e-mail to (Brenda@tappsartscenter.com) or (Alex@tappsartscenter.com) or visit Tapp’s on Facebook.