The City of North Charleston’s Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that mixed media paintings by Savannah, GA, based artist Randy Akers will be on display at the North Charleston City Gallery from June 2-30, 2016. The exhibition is free and open to the public.
In Land Marks, Akers presents a collection of 25 site specific and memory based paintings from locations in the Lowcountry. These locations trigger a visceral response for the artist and are always in rough condition: messy, dirty, rusty, and in forms of disrepair. The geography is perfect and all places have a history. Whether his response to these sites are immediate or banked and thought over at a later time, Akers feels compelled to make a visual, albeit abstracted, record through strong, expressionistic marks and layer upon layer of paint. “The process is a struggle and can occur over a period of several months, with layers and layers of decisions and paint applications,” He explains. “It is never straightforward and full of surprises.” The result is a body of textural, highly colorful works that are often poetic and convey a sense of mystery.
Randy Akers received an MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design and BFA from the Chouinard Art Institute at the California Institute of the Arts, with additional academic work at Art Center College of Design, California State University Northridge and University of Oregon. His work has been exhibited nationally, including an NEA funded show at the Stables Art Gallery in Taos, New Mexico; the University of New Mexico’s Harwood Foundation; the Los Angeles Institute of Contemporary Art; the Philadelphia Art Museum; the Anchorage Art Museum; the University of Northern Colorado; the Valdosta University Art Museum; the Masur Museum of Art, the State University of New York at Geneseo; the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art; and the LaGrange Art Museum. Most recently his work received first place at the 2015 North Carolina Arts Council exhibition Earthy Abstractions. He has taught at the School of Visual Arts, the Savannah College of Art and Design, and Cazenovia College. He is represented by Royal Contemporary Gallery in Colorado and creates in his studio on Skidaway Island, Georgia. To learn more about the artist, visit randyakers.com.
The North Charleston City Gallery is situated in the common areas of the Charleston Area Convention Center, located at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Parking and admission are free during regular Convention Center operating hours, 9:00am – 5:00pm daily. The gallery is staffed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday only. 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.