Looking for a creative way to spend a summer day? Discover inspiration in these not-to-be-missed downtown art shows.
Reynier Llanes: Passages at the Gibbes Museum
The current special exhibition on the third floor of the Gibbes Museum offers visceral, painterly explorations on the concept of “passage” — themes of travel, transition and estrangement reverberate through this stunning solo exhibition by Reynier Llanes, a Cuban-American artist who spent six years working in Charleston before moving to Miami in 2015.
Reynier Llanes: Passages is made up of vibrant, large-scale, narrative oil paintings that draw on Llanes’ experiences and memories as an artist, an émigré and an immigrant, as well as his interests in history, literature and science.
Llanes depicts scenes from daily life with a mystical elegance – many of his ghostly painted figures conjure questions about the passing of time; the feeling of missing some place or some one; the poetic implications of documenting life and its transitions through artmaking.
Passages also features works from earlier in Llanes’ career. Some are works he made during his time in Charleston, others are examples of his unique coffee-watercolor paintings, a style he has dubbed “espressionism,” like the 2012 painting “SOS for a Shipwreck at Sea,” where a man seems to be creating the very lifeboat he sits within. (That work is in fact a part of Jonathan Green’s personal collection.)
“Dear Dad” depicts a see-through man as he reads an emotional letter. And in “Our Garden,” moonlit, anonymous figures are surrounded by white butterflies, or birds, or stars, which devolve into thick globs of white paint upon closer inspection.
“Llanes paints ethereal worlds,” says the exhibition text by Gibbes curator Sara Arnold. “His explorations of both physical and spiritual passages sensitively communicate common threads in humanity. Whether his paintings capture the transcendent moment of cradling a new child, or imagine a future of tending a garden in outer space, Llanes’s works implore viewers to consider the value of connection — our connection to each other and our connection to the natural world.“ Passages will remain on view until Sept. 15.
Hot tip: The Gibbes Museum of Art is now free to attend from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. gibbesmuseum.org.
Look Just Like Yo Momma at the Avery Research Center
S.C. born, Baltimore-based artist Christopher “Kolpeace” Johnson presents vibrant portraits celebrating Black culture and ancestral figures at the Avery Research Center this summer. The show was curated by Tiguere Contemporary, which first showed the exhibition last fall at Lavish Salon in Columbia S.C., and brought the solo show to Charleston as a part of this year’s Piccolo Spoleto festival.
Johnson’s portraits of the women in his life are completed with passionate and confident mark-making, bringing together graffiti and traditional acrylic painting techniques on reclaimed wood panels. Many of the female figures are depicted with gold, spray painted halos as a sign of reverence.
The artist’s name, “Kolpeace,” stands for “Kids Only Love Peace,” reflecting Johnson’s mission to create positive change through art. He’s a graduate of the Maryland Institute of Contemporary Art’s community arts program (2021) and also specializes in public art and performance art.
On Instagram, the artist wrote of the exhibition: “Although the paintings are still, I begin to think about my performance process in finding the inspiration behind it.”
In the gallery space at the historic Avery Center, viewers will find on the floor a spade symbol made up of pine straw, which the artist explained serves as a symbol of “oppression, liberation, banter, grief and community gathering” that can be built from card games where spades are found. There’s also a projected video on the wall, also in the spade shape, which points to Kolpeace’s performance work and shows him in the process of painting.
Look Just Like Yo Momma “encapsulates memorable faces of impactful loving individuals who played pivotal roles in shaping my character,” Johnson added.
The result is an exhibition that feels like a longed-for family album which explores memory, resilience and the enduring power of a mother’s love. On view until Aug. 3.
Hot Tip: While at the Avery, check out the other exhibitions on view, which explore Denmark Vesey, Philip Simmons, Gullah Geechee heritage, the MOJA Arts Fest posters through the years, and more. avery.charleston.edu.
Creative Corridors and more at Redux Contemporary Art Center
Redux Contemporary Art Center’s 37 resident studio artists are on display in the main gallery in Creative Corridors, an annual, institutional tradition and opportunity for Redux artists to showcase a sample of their work in relation to a theme.
This year, exhibition curator Maggie Jordan asked artists to create new work with the theme “experimentation” in mind. Participating artists stepped outside of their comfort zones: like Katie Libby, a landscape painter, who shows a vibrant orange figurative painting; or Kris Hanson, a fiber artist and photographer who shows three “warrior goddess” pieces on mannequin head forms.
The show includes sculptures, like a vase that talks about consumer culture; an assemblage by Nick Kawczynski that depicts a smoking lizard in the midst of a magic trick; and a work by watercolor collagist Anna Chen that portrays one of those Christian billboards you’ll find on a Southern road trip.
And in the center gallery, find Bathed in Light, a show of photographic work from resident artist Hale Horstman. Her abstract photographs of black and white pools reveal an intriguing interplay of light and shadow, made from film taken 34 years ago that Horstman only recently developed.
The gallery all the way towards the back of the building shows the latest from residents of the center’s Lightning Residency program (a six-week, scholarship based residency program that’s currently accepting applications). That two-person show is titled Loose Joints by Dylan Beckman and Joe Karlovec. Beckman offers assemblages made from found materials (pictured) which speak to desires for control and manipulation, while Karlovec shows his interconnected practices of printmaking and sculpture.
All three of these Redux shows, Creative Corridors, Bathed in Light, and Loose Joints, are on view until Aug. 10.
Hot tip: Redux is currently asking for donations to replace its old and worn-out chairs, used in classes and workshops. They’re just $300 short of the donation goal. Donate $5, $10 or $25 to support this local hub for contemporary art.
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