Fayetteville Underground: First Thursday April 7th!

Join us First Thursday April 7th from 5-8pm at the Fayetteville Underground for another exciting month of all new exhibitions! This month we are thrilled to be showing the work of three U.K. artists in the Hive Gallery. Steven Heaton, Rob Kedward and John Spurgeon will present their mixed media photography show entitled Theft By Finding. The paintings of visiting artist, Steven Wise will be on display in the Revolver in his show Always. Famed local favorite Don House will show his latest photographic works in his exhibition, 30 Days in the Life in the Vault Gallery. Ceramist Randy Brodnax will be showcased in the E-Street Gallery.

Steven Wise

Steven Wise

Always

Steven Wise currently lives and works in Rogers, Arkansas, where he teaches art in the Rogers Public School District and at the Northwest Arkansas Community College. His work has been nationally exhibited and collected. In his home state of Arkansas, his work has been exhibited in the most competitive exhibitions such as the Annual Delta Exhibition at the Arkansas Arts Center in Little Rock (2010, 2004, 2003, 2000) and the Arkansas Arts Council's Annual Small Works on Paper Exhibition (2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2004, 1999).

This exhibition at the Fayetteville Underground will showcase more than 20 small paintings on board, along with a selection of sculptures and one large painting. The collection of small paintings are a part of the A series. The A stands for “always” because the series is an ongoing project that the artist began in 2001. To date, Wise has accumulated 54 paintings for the A series. Most of these small works are painted in layers to create unique patterns and textures. The paintings in the series have been worked and reworked by the artist over long stretches of time from three months to three years.

Wise will also include a selection of new sculptures in this exhibition. These pieces were created in the last six months. This will be the first time Wise has shown a sculpture since 1994. Wise used plaster, papier mache, and wood. He then painted on the materials. Wise used the same technique of layering to paint the sculptures that he used in his A series. Wise has included one large painting, Exodus. Wise began this work after listening to the album “Exodus” by Bob Marley. Its scheme of light and dark colors is used to symbolize the conflict between good and evil. The picture also presents portions of the Book of Exodus such as the Nile River. The narrative elements in the painting mark a divergent path for this painter who primarily works with non-objective forms.

Wise has written that all of his works are a part of a larger body of work that he calls alpha/beta projects. Each letter of the alphabet represents a series of art works. Each piece in the series is labeled with that letter and a chronological number (A01, A02, A03). This plan is named “alpha/beta.” If he follows his plan, he will finish his “life/works/projects” at the age of 55.

John Spurgeon

John Spurgeon, Steven Heaton, Rob Edwards
Theft by Finding

Three artists from the United Kingdom come together for this month’s featured visiting artist exhibition in the Hive gallery. Artist John Spurgeon (a.k.a Shakesmyteeth) is drawn towards archaic language, obsolete media, de-classified documents and discarded items – the images used in this light box series are made using several photographs of Victorian typography, diagrams from WW2 radio handbooks and bleached photographic slides. Artist Steven Heaton’s photography work explores texture and surface and dreamlike places. The viewer gets a sense of the past; dark, theatrical and otherworldly. Rob Kedward's photographs are static captures of an intricate stage where lights, actors and elements have all been purposefully placed to either create or complement the environment. This is the groups first international exhibition.


Don House
30 days in a life

Long known for his black&white landscape, figure, and portrait photography, House has collected a series of new work titled 30 Days In The Life, which documents one month of his continuing study of the region, and in particular, the Buffalo River Wilderness Area, where he spends most of his working hours. The collection of seventeen large photographs includes trees, rocks, fences, moving water, leaves, ice and snow - all of the common elements of the Ozarks, but seen through the monochrome eyes of this old school practitioner.

Randy Brodnax

Randy Brodnax

Randy Brodnax, a lifelong potter and educator from Dallas, Texas, creates everything from functional dinnerware to large decorative vessels to clay sculpture. He has specialized in raku for many years, using natural imagery and drawing upon a wild fantasy world of creatures of the mind. He is a very inventive and intuitive technician.

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As always there are open studios to tour, work in progress to see, and artists to meet. There will be new work by the talented underground studio artists in the back Vault gallery and the fine crafts you have come to expect in the E Street Gallery.

Once again this is all a part of the cultural amenity that is the visual arts on the First Thursday of every month at the Fayetteville Underground on the Fayetteville Square from 5-8p.m. After the reception be sure to come back and visit the galleries during our regular business hours of W-F 12-7 and Sat 10-5.

Tell your friends and see you there!
The exhibitions will remain up through April 30th.

The Fayetteville Underground
Basement of One East Square Plaza
East side of the Historic Fayetteville Square.
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Gallery Hours W-F 12-7pm
Saturday 10-5pm
4 galleries: Open Studios
www.fayettevilleunderground.com
www.fayettevilleunderground.blogspot.com