Three Exhibitions Open at Turchin Center Friday

Story by Anna Oakes

Above is a 2009 screen-printed poster artist Chris Williams created for a performance of the internationally renowned band Of Montreal at the Carolina Theatre. Williams’ work will be on display at the Turchin Center’s Gallery B this Friday, September 11, through January 16, 2010. Image courtesy of Williams and Plastic Flame Press

Although exhibition openings at the Turchin Center for the Visual Arts typically coincide with the monthly Downtown Boone Art Crawl, the latest offerings at the museum are coming one week later this month.

This Friday, September 11, the Turchin Center welcomes three new exhibitions to its West Wing galleries. Included are the works of a screen print artist, art quilters and an oil painter. All three exhibitions will be displayed through January 26, 2010.

In Gallery B will be the posters of artist and ASU alumnus Chris Williams, the owner/operator and head designer for Plastic Flame Press based in Raleigh. Williams has been creating posters for more than 15 years and has produced more than 200 screen-printed posters to date.

The artist’s work has evolved from hand-drawn flyers to professional posters for such nightclubs as Cat’s Cradle in Carrboro. The Turchin Center exhibition will represent a progression of his work through the years.

SAQA: 12 Voices will be on display in Gallery A. Studio Art Quilt Associates, Inc. (SAQA) is a nonprofit international organization that works to promote the art quilt through education, exhibitions, professional development and documentation.

A display of art quilts—contemporary pieces that incorporate aspects of other visual arts—will be on display in Gallery A at the Turchin Center. Image courtesy of Deidre Adams and SAQA

An art quilt is a contemporary quilt that incorporates elements of the whole range of visual arts—including painting, printmaking, photography, graphic design, assemblage and sculpture—while retaining a relationship to the traditional folk art quilt through materials or technique. The exhibition includes fiber artists from Belgium, New Zealand and throughout the United States.

The Mayer Gallery will feature a native of nearby Sugar Grove—Olivia Pendergast. Pendergast grew up on a small farm and honed her artistic skills as a student at the Columbus College of Art and Design and as a conceptual designer in the Los Angeles film industry. She now paints full time in the Utah mountains.

Inspired by a recent trip to Malawi, a densely populated, rural nation in southeast Africa, Pendergast has developed a suite of large-format, figurative paintings that will be presented for the first time at the Turchin Center.

Inspired by a recent trip to Malawi, a densely populated, rural nation in southeast Africa, Sugar Grove native Olivia Pendergast has developed a suite of large-format, figurative paintings that will be displayed in the Turchin Center Mayer Gallery. Image courtesy of Pendergast

Continuing exhibitions on display in the East Wing include Stephen Siegel: Wonderful Life and the work of Harlan Toole.

Stephen Siegel: Wonderful Life is featured in the Mezzanine and Main galleries. Siegel, who lives and works in New York, was the 1998 Rosen Outdoor Sculpture winner at ASU. The exhibition is a series of 52 wall sculptures. Siegel will present a free public lecture at the Turchin Center lecture hall on Wednesday, September 23, at 7:00 p.m.

The work of painter Harlan Toole is on display in the Catwalk Community Gallery. Toole, born in Mobile, Ala., and currently living in Lenoir, is a graduate of ASU’s Department of Art. The artist’s childhood in Alabama and her relationship with water continue to shape her work.

The Turchin Center, located at 423 West King Street, is open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and Saturday and from 12:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday.

For more information about Turchin Center exhibitions and other programs, call 828-262-3017 or click to www.turchincenter.org.

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