Gallery News

Art Sale Proceeds Benefit The Crossnore School

Yum Yum Fabulous Foods to Go is showing the work of Cynthia Anderson of Winston-Salem through May 1, along with work from other artists. Anderson uses oils in her landscapes, florals, still lifes and architectural paintings. Sally Pierce Corpening of Winston-Salem paints florals, farm scenes and abstracts. Anne Meade of Charlotte paints oils of France, farm and pastoral scenes. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of any art goes to the Crossnore School. Yum Yum is located at 9872 NC Highway 105 South, in the Grandfather View Village Shopping Center in Foscoe. For more info, call 828-963-6100.

Food and Hunger in North Carolina Reception January 23

David Lezette’s photograph of James Shull of Watauga County is included in an exhibit of student work focusing on food and hunger on display in Looking Glass Gallery at ASU.

The juried exhibition Photographic Documentaries: Food and Hunger in North Carolina will be on display from Friday, January 23, through Tuesday, February 10, in Plemmons Student Union’s Looking Glass Gallery at ASU. A reception will be held Friday, January 23, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Looking Glass Gallery.

Works in this show are composed of gelatin silver photographic media created by students in the fall semester Photographic Design II class taught by Kathleen Campbell. The class focused on the global food crisis, particularly how it has affected Watauga Country and North Carolina. Students researched the issue, and then interviewed and photographed people at local agencies and other venues dealing with or related to food and hunger issues. Beth Davison and Tom Hansell from University Documentary Services assisted the students.

Students whose work is featured in the exhibit are Brian Baker, Emily Combs, Alison Croft, Ronnie Hamline, Bernie Hendricks, Shannon Hunter, Jessie Jellicourse, Matt Kiefer, Lauren Jonas, David Lezette, Derek Misler, Ryan Naylor, Whitney O’Regan, Tonia Perkins, Amanda Rodriguez, Ryan Simpson and Brandon Thompson.

The exhibit was juried by Kathleen Campbell, professor of art; Jody Servon, assistant professor of art and curator of Catherine Smith Gallery; Beth Davison, associate professor of sociology and co-director of University Documentary Services; and Tom Hansell, co-director of University Documentary Services.

Catherine J. Smith Gallery at ASU Presents Two New Photography Exhibitions

ASU presents two new photography exhibitions at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery in Farthing Auditorium. Joe’s Junkyard and Growth: The Garden will be on view from Monday, January 26, through Wednesday, March 4. Both exhibitions are curated by Jody Servon, assistant professor and director of the Catherine J. Smith Gallery.

Joe’s Junkyard is a photographic study by Lisa Kereszi of a junkyard that her family owned. The exhibit includes 19 large color photographs, as well as film excerpts from A Steady Grind, a documentary produced by Kereszi’s sister Victoria. A screening of the full film will take place on Wednesday, March 4, in Belk Library. Kereszi began taking pictures in the family junkyard as a teenager; she later realized the junkyard was a special place chock full of family history. Kereszi’s junkyard story makes for an epic tale—money, near bankruptcy, family feuds, violence, drugs, death and suicide. Kereszi depicts her family with honesty and integrity; she allows visitors entry to intimate moments in vivid color. The photographs included in the exhibition were made between 1998 and 2003. In 2003, the junkyard was sold to a competitor; these images survive as a fitting testament to the people who spent their lives there.

Lisa Kereszi graduated from Bard College in 1995 with a bachelor of arts with a concentration in photography. After college she moved to New York City and worked as an assistant to Nan Goldin. In 2000 she received a master of fine arts degree from the Yale University School of Art. She is now on the faculty as a lecturer at the Yale School of Art and is acting director of undergraduate studies in photography.

Growth: The Garden consists of garden images produced during a residency organized by the Contemporary Art Museum in Raleigh, and the exhibition includes large color photographs by Taj Forer and intimate black-and-white and color images created by eight community members. This project began in spring 2007 with Forer taking photographs on the grounds of Anathoth Community Garden in Cedar Grove. This work at the garden, however, was missing something—the viewpoints of garden members who worked the land and enjoyed its fruits. After realizing this, Forer led a series of workshops for eager photographers: Geneva Cauble, Matthew Davis, Tony Hackney, Charlotte Hughes, Doris Long, and Cynthia, Dylan and John Webb. Forer’s instructions were “to make pictures of whatever you are interested in, not what you think you should make pictures of.” During that time, Forer and the workshop participants explored public and private spaces in and around Cedar Grove. Their images offer up a shrimp farmer’s first harvest, as well as a peek inside Doris’s freezer, brimming with vegetables saved for winter meals. Growth: The Garden is about the wealth not only of the produce grown at the community garden, but also of the people who turned the vacant land into a sacred space for health and healing. The people of Anathoth Community Garden prove that our world is ripe with possibilities. This project includes audio interviews with the photographers.

Taj Forer received an MFA in photography from UNC-Chapel Hill and his BA from Sarah Lawrence College. He is currently a lecturer of photography in the art departments at UNC-Chapel Hill and City College, New York.

Curator Jody Servon stated, “The photographs and recordings made for Growth: The Garden and Joe’s Junkyard invite us to rethink our relationships with other people and with the environments we inhabit. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to see works by and hear both of these talented and accomplished photographers: Lisa Kereszi and Taj Forer. I believe their visits to campus will be valuable learning experiences for our students and community members.”

On Monday, February 2, Kereszi will give a visiting artist lecture in Wey Hall, Room 208, at 7:00 p.m. A reception will follow at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery.

On Monday, February 9, Forer will give a visiting artist lecture in Wey Hall, Room 208, at 7:00 p.m. A reception will follow at the Catherine J. Smith Gallery.

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