CMA Curator & Frequent Jasper Contributor Will South to Exhibit Work at Gallery West

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Gallery West, located at 134 State Street in West Columbia, will host a special exhibition of recent work by artist Will South from January 26 through March 13, 2016. A wine and hors d’oeuvres Opening Reception will be held at the gallery on Tuesday, January 26 from 6:00-9:00 pm.
Will South, a frequent contributor to Jasper Magazine, has become known on the Columbia scene over the past four years for his work at the Columbia Museum of Art, but also for his role as a painter in his own right. Wearing two hats, in Will’s view, is fine “as long as the hats fit.” As a museum curator, Will is known for making art accessible, whether in writing, on the wall, or in public talks. He shares his passion for art freely, and sees museum work as an ongoing opportunity for public service. Back in the studio, however, he reverts to the artist who has made art his entire life, only now one who has learned a great deal from art history.
In a number of his most recent paintings, the influence of art history is out in the open. One painting features a lounging cat with a painting by the great Italian modern Modigliani in the background. The Modigliani is interrupted by a floral spray, and the entire image is in a blurred, smoky light. There is no specific message here (or in any of the work, according to the artist) other than the poetry of the moment. The Modigliani in question sold recently for 170 million dollars, but the cat sharing its space is completely unconcerned. The atmosphere is one of quiet and detachment, where, for the artist, what is depicted supports the mood first and foremost.
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In addition to oils on canvas, Will is a prolific draftsman and a number of recent figure drawings will be featured. His attitude toward figure work is unabashedly selfish: “The world doesn’t need any more figure drawings, but I do, and so that’s why I make them. There is a world of difference between hearing someone sing and singing yourself. Happily, in the shortness of life, we get to do both.”

About Jasper

What Jasper Said is the blogging arm of Jasper – The Word on Columbia Arts, a new written-word oriented arts magazine that serves artists and arts lovers in the Columbia, SC area and its environs in four ways: Via Print Media – Jasper is a bi-monthly magazine, releasing in print six times per year in September, November, January, March, May & July, on the 15th of each month. Jasper covers the latest in theatre and dance, visual arts, literary arts, music, and film as well as arts events and happenings; Via Website – Jasper is an interactive website complete with a visual arts gallery, messages from Jasper, an arts events calendar that is updated several times daily, bite-sized stories on arts events, guest editorials, local music, dance & theatre videos, community surveys, and more; Via Blog – What Jasper Said -- you're reading this now -- is a daily blog featuring a rotating schedule of bloggers from the Jasper staff as well as guest bloggers from throughout the arts community; Via Twitter – Jasper Advises is a method of updating the arts community on arts events, as they happen, with more than a half dozen active tweeters who live, work, and play inside the arts community everyday ~ Jasper Advises keeps the arts community abreast of what not to miss, what is happening when it is happening, and where to be to experience it first hand.
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