The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that lumen prints by North Charleston based photographer Leslie Burns, and botanical reflective paintings by Summerville based artist Carla Johannesmeyer will be on exhibit at the North Charleston City Gallery from July 1-31, 2019. The artists will host a free public reception for their concurrent solo exhibitions at the gallery on Thursday, July 11, from 5:00-7:00pm.
– Photographic Works by Leslie Burns
In her series, Lumen Prints, photographer Leslie Burns creates images using an early photographic process developed in the 19th century that utilizes sunlight as the developer. The artist arranges cut flowers on light sensitive paper and exposes the paper to sunlight for several hours. The sun darkens the paper and leaves behind an image of the flowers’ shadows. Burns then uses a wash that halts the light sensitivity of the paper and preserves the found image. Her interest in this process reflects her admiration for the beauty of nature. “Within this series of images, I act as a conduit, connecting chemical properties of sunshine and light sensitive paper with the natural beauty of flowers. These lumen prints are visual documentation of my reverence for these natural ornate gifts of supreme rhythm and grace.”
Leslie Burns earned her BA in Studio Art from the College of Charleston in 1999. In 2011, she earned her MFA in Photography from the Lamar Dodd School of Art at the University of Georgia, where she was awarded a three-year teaching assistantship. Burns’ artwork has been exhibited internationally and throughout the southeast, including group exhibitions at Piccolo Spoleto, Artfields, and the Tula Art Center in Atlanta. Her work has also been featured in Fotosavant.com, Lenscratch.com and OneOneThousand.org. In June 2012, she was named as one of the “100 Under 100: The New Superstars of Southern Art” by Oxford American Magazine. She has been an Instructor of Photography at the University of Georgia, Trident Technical College, and Redux Contemporary Arts Center, and is currently an adjunct professor of photography at the College of Charleston. Learn more about the artist at www.leslieburnsart.com.
Rhythmic Reflections of Fields and Gardens – Paintings by Carla Johannesmeyer
Rhythmic Reflections of Fields and Gardens is a series of oil paintings by Carla Johannesmeyer that explore geometric pattern and harmony through reflective paintings of natural subjects. In this series, Johannesmeyer paints mirrored reflections of wild and cultivated plantings of forests, fields, and gardens of South Carolina and the island of Barbados. By imposing the mirrored reflection on her subjects, Johannesmeyer studies fractal patterns and golden ratios found in nature. Of her process Johannesmeyer explains,“I find solace in the physical and mental exercise of creating an image, its reverse image, and mirrored again creating a point-by-point fourth order symmetry in my work. This is an expressive search for harmony with deliberate respect to the free mark of the artist’s brush as a count to the age of digital precision.”
Carla Johannesmeyer began her career as an architect after receiving a BA in Architecture from Virginia Tech. Throughout her successful architecture career, she enhanced her education with studio studies in drawing, printmaking, photography, and film, and found herself constantly mentally collecting images and inspiration to paint. Today, Johannesmeyer creates lyrical oil paintings that are reminiscent of postimpressionists, but border on expressionism. Her work is collected throughout the United States and Canada and has been exhibited in numerous juried group shows, including MOJA, Artfields, and Piccolo Spoleto. Learn more about the artist at www.carlajfineart.com.
The North Charleston City Gallery is situated in two corridors of the Charleston Area Convention Center adjacent to the North Charleston Coliseum, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Parking and admission are free. The gallery is open 9:00am-5:00pm daily, with an attendant present 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.