Press release from Mark Bettis:
A group show of 18 artists will grace the Alder Gallery at Posana Restaurant beginning with an opening reception Thursday, April 20, from 6–8 p.m. and running through July 15th. The reception will allow the public to meet the artists and celebrate the common theme of the works: hats.
“I chose and challenged these artists to depict a hat or hats in whatever style and painting medium they enjoy,” says curator Constance Vlahoulis, also a participating artist. “Their styles range from portrait, realistic and impressionistic to abstract and whimsical.” Vlahoulis has been a member of the River Arts District Artists since 2012. Her Conn-Artist Studio & Co. offers art curating for homes, offices, studios and business.
Nancy Hilliard Joyce will be the guest artist, having been the curator of this group before moving from Asheville to the Charlotte area. “I handed the baton to Constance and she has taken off with the charge of creative curator,” says Hilliard Joyce. “The piece I am painting for the show is going to be a figure of a woman. Her ‘hat’ will be a bird’s nest upon her head and a flock of doves will be flying out of her nested hat.”
Jacqui Fehl is another participating mixed media artist who will offer what she calls a “grunge-ical” take on the hat theme. “My work will be a colorful piece incorporating collage, paint, pastels and graphite—a blend of grunge and whimsy,” she says. “I’m excited to be invited to participate in this talented and diverse collection of artists and I particularly like that we were given complete freedom to interpret the theme of hats any way we wish.”
Wendy Whitson’s painting is titled The Bean Picker. “It is the story of a working man,” she says. “I referenced a photograph I took of him in the hot, summer fields of southeast North Carolina many years ago. Hats will be an interesting visual statement of the lives we lead, head-first, so to speak.”
Mark Bettis’s painting titled “Fox with the Green Velvet Hat” is another whimsical take on hats. He has been doing animals along with his abstracts which he is known for, foxes being one of his favorite subjects as of late.
Other participating artists are Julie Bell, Anne Bevan, Gary Cooley, Tebbe Davis, Kristin Foley, William George, Barbara Hipwell, Cheryl Keefer, Julie Miles, Virginia Pendergrass, Kathryn Phillips, Cason Rankin and Bee Sieburg. All works will be for sale and there will be a special opening night display of hats by Simone Bernhard.
Posana Restaurant is located at 1 Biltmore Avenue in the heart of downtown Asheville. To learn more about Hats, email constance@ constancefineart.com, call 828.329.2918 or visit conn-artist.com.
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