The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that photographs by Dawnita Hall of North Charleston, SC, and Nicole Robinson of Charleston, SC, and will be on exhibit at the North Charleston City Gallery from March 4-31, 2020. The artists will host a free public reception for their concurrent solo exhibitions at the gallery on Thursday, March 5, from 5:00-7:00pm.
– Photographs by Dawnita Hall
Dawnita Hall’s exhibit, Signs of Life, is a series of nine metallic print photographs of found signs and lettering. As a child, Hall was encouraged to notice signs and lettering by her parents who kept her occupied on long car rides by playing letter games with her. She also has fond memories of being read to as a child. Hall started to appreciate letters and words as more than just symbols representing sound. Faded advertisements and peeling letters on the side of a mom and pop store spark her imagination and make her wonder “what was, what is, and what can be.” In this series, Hall points her camera at fading messages and signs to invoke narrative thought. She considers her style journalistic in nature and uses minimal digital darkroom tools to preserve the natural beauty the scene.
Dawnita Hall began her photography practice by taking a photographic storytelling class with a borrowed camera. Fourteen years later she now teaches photography and photographic storytelling techniques herself. She has won multiple awards for her photography and is currently a contributing photographer for the photographic history preservation project, The South Carolina Picture Project, produced by SciWay. Learn more about the artist at DawnitaHall.com.
Abstraction: Tidal Obsession – Photographs by Nicole Robinson
In her exhibit, Abstraction: Tidal Obsession, photographer Nicole Robinson presents a series of long exposure tidal landscapes. Robinson is drawn to simple subjects with interesting light, texture, and motion. She uses long exposures in combination with hand panning across her subjects to create a natural abstract image. By inviting this distortion into her work, Robinson seeks an emotional response from the viewer. “There has to be more that you derive from an image than just documentation of being in a certain place or time. If the image provokes thought or questions or stirs desire; there is where I find success of my art,” says Robinson.
Nicole Robinson is a self-taught photographer who has lived in the Carolinas for more than 25 years. Her work is in many private collections throughout the United States. She has been represented at the Lowcountry Artist Gallery and is a founding member of the Catch Light Gallery in North Carolina. She has participated in group and solo exhibitions throughout the Southeast. A construction worker by trade, she considers herself a photographer at heart and draws inspiration from the beauty of the natural world. Learn more about the artist at NicoleRobinsonPhotography.com.
The North Charleston City Gallery is situated in two corridors of the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. The exhibition space is at the northwest corner of the Convention Center adjacent to the Coliseum, facing International Boulevard. 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.