Gallery Openings and Artist Receptions
June Gallery Opening and Artist Reception: June 1st, 5:30 to 7:30pm
The Creative Arts Guild will open a new exhibit on Friday titled "The Genius and the Ingenious: The Obsession and Influence of Outsider Artists.” The exhibit is curated by local sculptor Chris Beck. Both two-dimensional and three-dimensional works will be featured.
The exhibit event begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes a reception offering art lovers a chance to talk with the artists about their work.
Dalton Chamber Choir concert
Following the Gallery Opening and Reception, a choral music concert called "Songs of Love, Songs of Peace" will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in the Jonas Hall by the Dalton Chamber Choir. Violinist Paula Pasqua will accompany the choir and play some solos. Music Director Adam Burnette will lead the performance from the keyboard, assisted by pianist Angela Arthur. Concert admission is $10 for adults and $8 for seniors over 65 and students. For more information, contact Guild Music Director Lisa Elders at (706) 259-1822 or lisae@creativeartsguild.org.
Outsider art: What is it?
Outsider art generally refers to various forms of creative expression that exist outside accepted cultural norms, in particular the norms of “fine art.” The term was the title of a 1972 book discussing the subject of an art genre whose representative works were considered “raw” because they were "uncooked" or "unadulterated" by culture, raw because they are viewed as creation in a most direct and uninhibited form.
Over the years the term “outsider art” has been used increasingly loosely and can often refer to any artist who is untrained or with disabilities or suffering social exclusion, whatever the nature of their work. Included in the broadest category of outsider art are works termed “folk,” “marginal,” “self-taught,” “intuitive," “naive” and “visionary."
The June Gallery Opening theme of “outsider art” will be well reflected in an exhibit featuring artist R.A. Miller, whose work will be shown in Gallery ONE11. Miller was a self-taught North Georgia native folk artist, best known for his whirligigs, metal cutouts and drawings. His works are widely collected and in constant demand; Miller is acknowledged as one of the more notable senior folk artists in the United States.
Will Locke’s exhibit continues
Continuing on display in Jonas Hall, the provocative “Blue Collar on Vermillion & Viridian” exhibit is a collection of works by self-taught artist Will Locke; the paintings intrigue the viewer with their unique use of color, abstract forms and imagery of coal miners, a theme inspired from his family heritage. The exhibit opened in May and will remain available for viewing through Friday, June 22.
As always, the Creative Arts Guild Gallery Opening and Artist Reception series is free and open to the public. Light refreshments and beverages will be available.