The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that concurrent solo exhibitions by local artist Bradley Carroll and Washington D.C. based artist Sharon Robinson will be on display at the North Charleston City Gallery from October 5-31, 2017. The artists will host a free public reception at the gallery on Thursday, October 5, from 5:00-7:00pm.
Bradley Carroll of Mount Pleasant, SC, will display recent oil and acrylic paintings that focus on the use of light to capture cityscapes in downtown Charleston. As a painter, Carroll is particularly interested in the quality of evening light in an urban environment—the moon, streetlamps, a lit window of a shop or restaurant. It is in this “blue hour” that he finds much of his inspiration. “In a city,” says Carroll, “the blue hour sets the perfect backdrop for artificial light to escort and distort our perception of what’s around us.” Though most of Carroll’s paintings depict architectural elements, his process is organic. After doing a quick initial drawing, he adds cursory black outlines and experiments with different washes to determine a color scheme. He then adds a second set of outlines and begins developing the imaginary further, theorizing in practice and allowing the painting to respond to itself to create a cohesive image.
Bradley Carroll has been painting for 17 years. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Media Arts from the University of South Carolina in 2004. His paintings have recently been displayed in the Piccolo Spoleto Juried Exhibition at the City Gallery downtown and in a solo show at Striped Pig Distillery in 2016. In 2015, his painting At Night All Cats Are Gray received Honorable Mention in Charleston City Paper’s inaugural Visual Art Competition. See the artist’s work at www.bradcarroll.blogspot.com.
Ever Emerging – Mixed media works by Sharon Robinson
Sharon Robinson will present Ever Emerging, a collection of mixed-media collage works that visually express the elements of life that connect us as human beings. Robinson is most drawn to themes addressing cultural integration, how we define ourselves in relation to others, and biases that cause misunderstanding. She approaches each of her pieces differently—sometimes with a specific idea or subject, other times as an experiment in texture, color, and design. Robinson explains, “I find that mixed media provides the opportunity for endless combinations of materials that allows me to construct my own interpretation of ideas, themes, and life situations.” Her works combines layers of color and texture with cultural symbols, text, and imagery of ethnic, religious, gender, and racial identity to reflect the many layers of the human experience.
Sharon Robinson received a Bachelor of Arts in Urban Studies from Tufts University in Medford, MA, and a Master’s Degree in City Planning with a concentration in Urban Design and Community Development from MIT. While working in the urban transit and planning field for over 25 years, she engaged in a parallel pursuit of art. She became a full-time artist in 1999 and has been teaching abstract mixed media and collage workshops and exhibiting her work on the east and west coast ever since. Her work has been displayed widely in Washington D.C., Oregon, and Washington. In addition, she has offered consultation services to arts non-profits, worked as a curator for festivals and art fairs, managed art programs and mural projects for civic and corporate institutions, and managed a creative re-use center. She currently lives, works, and offers classes in her home studio in Washington D.C. Learn more about the artist at www.therobinsonstudio.com.
The North Charleston City Gallery is situated in two corridors of the northwest corner of the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Parking and admission are free. Gallery hours are Tuesdays 12-5pm, Wednesdays 11am-5pm, Thursdays 11am-7:30pm, and Fridays 11am-5pm. Inquiries regarding the artists or purchase information may be directed to the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5854. For information on additional exhibits, programs, and events, visit the Arts & Culture section of the City’s website.