The PopCulteer
July 22, 2011
The Hottest ArtWalk In History?
I don’t know if anyone has kept records, but yesterday’s ArtWalk was held on what was certainly one of the hottest days I can recall. Despite the heat, your PopCulteer made the trek out for a combination ArtLimp/ArtSlog through the humidity.
Yes I said “ArtLimp.” I was somewhat hobbled by a mysterious knee issue, so a couple of the galleries were visited by my significant other, RFC Big Shot Melanie Larch, earlier in the day. We also missed a couple of galleries, but we’ll get those guys next month.You have to cut us a break, as the Heat Index says it was the equivalent of 280 degrees or something close to it yesterday.
We started ArtWalk last night at Studio 1031, where you can not only find work by Gloria Jean Pennington, Joeann Crawford, Judith Pratt, and Stefani Andrews, but you can also find the artists themselves, hard at work, during the ArtWalk hours. This is one of the coolest studios in town, and is well worth a visit.
And they have very lovely air conditioning, too. The decorated chair you see at the head of this post belongs to Studio 1031, and they have loads of other wonderful artistic items.
Cool air and cool jazz greet you as you walk in the door. Studio 1031 was the only gallery in ArtWalk last night that had live Vibraphone music.
Another cool feature of Studio 1031 is that the artists actually work during ArtWalk, and they're quite friendly.
It's neat to watch the art come to life.
Some of the work of star artist (and occasional RFC camera person) Stefani Andrews.
In addition to the art, there's also some great hand-made jewelry at Studio 1031.
The Art Emporium, this month, is showcasing the early works of Thorny Lieberman, whose ultra-high-res photographs have to be seen in person to fully appreciate.
This retrospective of Lieberman's work will remain at The Art Emporium for several more weeks.
The artist himself (center) discusses photography methods and locations with interested patrons.
Your PopCulteer indulges in his own artistic bent by capturing a silhouette of Lieberman reflected in one of the artist's works.
An example of Lieberman's series of Diner photos. These really must be seen in person. The detail is just striking.
The Art Wmporium has an impressive selection of works by other artists, too. Mike Winland's metallic print of the interior of the State Capitol dome (lower right) is astonishing in its beauty.
K. D. Lett Photographic Productions/White Oak Photography
Another fun stop during ArtWalk is Suite 100 at 107 Hale Street, where K.D Lett and Michelle Krompecher share a working studio in a really cool location (The Masonic Temple Building).
Michelle was showing some of her stunning "New Jersey Neon" series.
K. D. had some very intriguing new work on display as well.
Here we sneak a peek at some work in progress on K.D.'s desk.
It’s always a kick to stop in to Modern By Design, the interior design offshoot of The Purple Moon, to get ideas on how to make our house all space-age and Jetson-y. We always leave wanting to re-do our living quarters.
One of these days I will have that lamp.
Sleek, elegant, and yet still A COMFY CHAIR!
Very cool accent bottles.
The highlight of the evening at The Purple Moon was new work by Amelia Schroeder, but there was also cool art filling the walls at every turn.
Some of Amelia's great new work.
More of Amelia's newer work. This is very impressive stuff.
There's a healthy selection of Amelia's earlier works on display, too.
We tried to get a good shot of this piece by Sharon Lyn Stackpole last month, but there were too many people crowded around it.
In a non-ArtWalk photo, here's Sharon working on her "Peer to Pier" project on Washington Street.
Chase Henderson, the mastermind behind Dr. Sketchy's Charleston Branch, has work showing at The Purple Moon, too.
Melanie Larch took her camera to Visions Day Spa, where she captured some great new floral pieces by Keith W. Johnson.
Melanie also covered Taylor Books for me, and reeled in the following images.
Nik Botkin's lucite fish go swimmingly with any decor. (I apologize to all parties involved for making that joke)
I would make a "cap and trade" remark here, but that may result in me being severely beaten...and deservedly so.
Close up of one of Vernon Howell's intricate works.
We're going to wrap up our July ArtWalk coverage with a couple of pieces by Lauren Adams.
Again, big thanks go out to Melanie Larch for taking pictures at Visions and Taylors, thus saving me several blocks of wear-and-tear on my bum knee.
Weekend Music Highlights
Dixie Highway, featuring RFC buddy, Johnny “Hurricane” Compton, make theirofficial debut tonight at The Blue Parrot in support of local legends, War Creek Mafia. The show kicks off around 10 PM, and the cover is five dollars.
The Adorable Casi Null holds court at Taylor Books from 7:30 to 9:30 with no cover charge. Casi will be joined by several friends throughout the night.
Saturday night you can see Casi in her role as the bassist for The Nanker Phelge, who will be joining RFC faves David Synn and Chuck Biel’s Dr. Curmodgeon for a night of terrific and diverse music at The Blue Parrot. Five dollars gets you in the door, and the show starts at 10 PM.
That’s the quick rundown for this week. PopCult and RFC are still operating in semi-vaction mode, but our regular features will still be popping up here and there.
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