The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that gouache paintings and textile works by the current City of North Charleston Artist-in-Residence, Camela Guevara, as well as oil paintings by local artist Patrick Nevins will be on exhibit at the North Charleston City Gallery from December 1, 2017, through January 29, 2018. The artists will host a free public reception at the gallery on Thursday, December 7, from 5:00-7:00pm.
PLUME – Gouache Paintings & Fiber Art by Camela Guevara
Camela Guevara is a contemporary textile artist and painter based in Charleston. Her tactile fiber art pays respect to traditional, time-honored sewing and weaving techniques through the lens of spare, geometric imagery with an emphasis on materials. Figure skating costumes, over-the-top fashion, and utilitarian textiles inform her abstract and non-functional fiber pieces. In addition to working with textiles, she has most recently been creating expressive gouache paintings that visualize her internal stream of consciousness without judgment. In her exhibition PLUME, Guevara presents abstract gouache paintings of “plumes” on paper, along with some pieces composed of handmade cording on wood panel, and some woven pieces using raffia and found objects. Guevara draws inspiration for her plumes from the world around her. “When I think of plumes in nature,” she explains, “I think of the man-made complications of pollution, such as the floating island of plastics in the ocean.” For Guevara, the process of creating these pieces is a meditative one, “it is a kind of sifting of all the media I experience, similar to the filtration of an oyster. I take in so much culture and interaction on a daily basis, that I’m filtering through it all and cleansing myself from the deluge of advertising and media through painting.”
Guevara received a BA in Studio Art with a concentration in sculpture, printmaking, and painting from the College of Charleston in 2010 and attended the Penland School of Crafts for weaving in 2016. Her work has been exhibited in a number of solo and group exhibitions locally and beyond. Recent shows include the South Carolina Palmetto Hands Juried Fine Craft Exhibition (North Charleston, SC), the Piccolo Spoleto Juried Art Exhibition (Charleston, SC), Nasty Women at Redux Contemporary Art Center (Charleston, SC), Feminist Fiber Art at the Virago Gallery (Seattle, WA), New Weave at the Southern Gallery (Charleston, SC), and Telling Her Story at the Greenville Center for the Arts (Greenville, SC). Camela has offered art instruction to children and adults for 7 years through organizations such as the North Charleston Cultural Arts Department, Girls Rock Charleston, Space Craft Studios, and Redux Contemporary Art Center, and works as both Assistant Manager and Outreach Coordinator for Artist & Craftsman Supply’s Charleston Uptown location. In addition, Camela currently offers residencies to North Charleston schools and community groups as the City of North Charleston’s 2017/18 Artist-in-Residence. Learn more about the artist at camelaguevara.com.
Impermanent. Objects. – Oil paintings by Patrick Nevins
Oil painter Patrick Nevins presents Impermanent. Objects., a collection of still-lifes and landscapes on wood panel and canvas. Nevins strives to create as much realism as he can in his paintings. He believes that the challenge of realism teaches him something with each new painting. He has recently turned to still-lifes for his subjects due to their availability and his ability to manipulate and change the setup to reflect his idea and vision. “For the most part,” Nevins says, “my subjects are chosen to depict a certain message or thought. Sometimes it is as simple as a texture or the way the light hits an object.” Nevins sees his work as influenced by Joshua Suda, Adam Vinson, and Todd Casey, as well as local artist Robert Lange.
Patrick Nevins is from a small town in Massachusetts. He came to South Carolina through service in the Marine Corps. His love for the area led him to enroll in the College of Charleston where he graduated in 2005 with a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. He lives on Folly Beach and is represented in Charleston, SC, by the Atelier Gallery, and by gallery43 in Roswell, GA. He has exhibited widely in juried shows throughout South Carolina. In 2015 his piece, Channeling Edison, won first place in the Charleston City Paper Art Contest. Learn more about the artist at patricknevinsart.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.