The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents On & Off the Page at City Gallery
August 18, 2016
The City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs presents On & Off the Page at City Gallery, located at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Waterfront Park, September 17 through October 30, 2016, featuring the works of more than forty artists from across the Southeastern United States. The exhibition will open with a reception on Friday, September 16 from 5 to 7 p.m., with a curators’ lecture following on Saturday, October 1 at 2 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.
On & Off the Page, co-curated by artists Kristen Solecki and Kris Westerson, is an exploration of how the book structure and content are similar to stage and actor, engaging reader and viewer in an imaginary or realistic experience. As book structures, prints, and illustrations are unpacked as functional objects and works of art, a diverse group of artists from across the Southeast United States explore numerous questions in On & Off the Page, including understanding the identity and cultural label of the maker. Are they artist, craftsperson, maker, or creative entrepreneur?
Comparing and contrasting historic making to contemporary making, curators Kristen Solecki and Kris Westerson show that as much as technology appears to change, much remains the same in bookbinding, printmaking, and the art of storytelling. But what is the future of the book, hand-pulled print, and other works on paper in the age of digital making? Appreciating historic book and print technologies artists borrow from the past to work in similar modalities. They innovate and evolve the medium into a multimedia response to contemporary life issues.
The featured artists explore book structure and content through printmaking, hand papermaking, illustration, and book arts. The exhibition includes an array of contemporary works demonstrating varied artistic responses to a similar theme and technique. With content apart from book structures and book structures apart from content, deeper connections between structure and content emerge. Design and aesthetic decisions made by the artist become even more meaningful when book structure and content are considered together. Selected historic pieces will also be on view for additional context.
This exhibition features more than forty artists from across the Southeast, including: Kris Westerson, Kristi Ryba, Mary Walker, Bette Mueller-Roemer, Arthur McDonald, Lillian Trettin, Sonja Greentree Rossow, Brien Biedler, Jocelyn Chateauvert, Lauren Faulkenberry, Susan Finch Stevens, Mary Leto, Karen Hardy, Kit Loney, Fritzi Huber, Linda Elksnin, Cynthia Cobert, Lee Wieland, Monique Lallier, Kathy Strother, Ellen Knudsen, Kyle Clark, Karen Hanmer, Dorothy Simpson Krause, Kristen Solecki, Lisa Abernathy, Seth Corts, Kristen Necessary, Diane Speight, Aijung Kim, Lesley Patterson Marx, Nancy Lemon-Carney, Patricia Van de Graaf, Ken Ambler, Janet Guertin, Stephanie Struse, Jessica White, Kreh Mellick, Laura Ladendorf. Historic pieces from the Medical University of South Carolina’s Waring Historical Library will also be included in the exhibition.
About the Co-Curators
Kristen Solecki
Kristen Solecki is an artist and illustrator based in Charleston, South Carolina who graduated from Philadelphia’s University of the Arts. Her first introduction to art was at a young age through the illustrations in storybooks. Since then Kristen has taken her love of story and imagery to a career as an artist and illustrator. She creates work for a wide variety of projects including illustrations for books, magazines, and personal commissions. Her work has been featured on the popular television show Mad Men. Solecki exhibits her drawings and paintings around the country and regularly teaches workshops, while also curating exhibitions of her own like On & Off the Page.
Kris Westerson
Kris Westerson also works out of Charleston creating handmade paper and artists’ books. Growing up in a family of individuals who worked with their hands, Westerson says that to her, making is both nature and nurture. Her mother helped in her first papermaking experience and she has been hooked ever since, exploring the themes of time, memory, chaos, and impermanence in her artwork. The curators hope to express the relationship between ever-changing technology and the classic art of bookmaking. They wish viewers to increase their appreciation for the seemingly banal objects of books, paper, images, and illustrations and to see them in a new light, as thought provoking works of art.
About City Gallery
City Gallery, located at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Waterfront Park, is owned by the City of Charleston and operated by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs, presenting an annual program of exhibitions and events featuring the finest contemporary art from local, regional, national and international artists, with a focus on the Lowcountry. City Gallery provides access to the visual arts for everyone in Charleston, SC, visitors and residents alike, by offering exhibits that are all admission-free. City Gallery is located at 34 Prioleau St. in downtown Charleston, SC, and gallery hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday, 10 am until 6 pm, Saturday and Sunday, noon until 5 pm. For more information and holiday closures, visit www.charleston-sc.gov/citygallery or call 843-958-6484.
