Featured image for post: Painterly Works will be the Focus of the Barton Art Galleries’ Exhibition Opening March 12

Painterly Works will be the Focus of the Barton Art Galleries’ Exhibition Opening March 12

WILSON, N.C. — February 29, 2016 — Painting will be the focus of an extraordinary exhibition of works opening this spring in the Barton Art Galleries on the campus of Barton College. Susan Lichtman’s “Domestic Arrangements” in the Virginia Thompson Graves Gallery and Sara Pedigo’s “A Nest of Rooms” in the Lula E. Rackley Gallery will provide an evocative experience for viewers as they catch glimpses of their own lives through the eyes of these artists and the creativity of their paintings. The exhibition will run from March 12 through Friday, April 22, with several events planned in collaboration with the art show.

On Thursday, March 17, the Barton Art Galleries and the Barton College Friends of Visual Arts will host a reception at 5 p.m. for the “Domestic Arrangements” and “A Nest of Rooms” exhibition by Lichtman and Pedigo, respectively. At 6 p.m., an artist lecture will follow, featuring Lichtman and Pedigo. These two events are open to the public at no charge, and the community is invited to attend.

Following the lecture, the Barton College Friends of Visual Arts will host a dinner for members at 7 p.m. in the Kennedy Family Theatre with featured guests Lichtman and Pedigo. Advance reservations are required. Members of the Friends of Visual Arts may make dinner reservations by contacting Maureen O’Neill at 252-399-6476 or moneill@barton.edu. For additional information about joining the Friends of Visual Arts, please contact Francis Belcher at 252-399-6357 or fbelcher@barton.edu.

On March 12 and March 19, Lichtman will also hold “Still Life Painting” workshops in the Case Art Building’s Painting Studio from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Open to the public, each Saturday workshop is $15 per person, and advance reservations are required as space is limited. For reservations, please contact Maureen O’Neill at 252-399-6476 or moneill@barton.edu.

During the run of the art exhibition, guests may also enjoy visiting Lichtman for studio chats and to see what students are working on, Monday – Friday, from 1- 3 p.m. in the Painting Studio.

About the Artists —

Lichtman's Sisters at a TableLichtman studied at Brown University and then attended the Yale University School of Art, in New Haven, Conn., where she worked with William Bailey, Bernard Chaet, Gretna Campbell, and Andrew Forge. She currently serves as an associate professor in the Department of Fine Arts at Brandeis University where she has taught since 1989.

When asked about her painting, Lichtman shared, “I think my idea of beauty in painting has to do with the tension between the depiction of deep space and the properties of shape and surface. I see that tension in interior paintings of artists I love best, from Roman wall painting to De Hooch, Vuillard, Bonnard, and Gwen John. Sunlight or lamplight juxtaposed with shadows add to the complexity of shapes. I am interested in how light can divert attention away from figures and slow down the reading of the imagery.”

Sara Pedigo's Minor RearrangementsPedigo spent her childhood in South Carolina and Florida. Her paintings and drawings are most associated with figurative realism that captures moments of her family’s history and southern environment. She received her Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She currently serves as an assistant professor at Flagler College, her undergraduate alma mater. Pedigo lives in Saint Augustine, Fla. The recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation MFA Grant, Pedigo has exhibited throughout the United States. Most notably, she was included in the 2006 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, and in exhibitions at the Cue Foundation, the Affordable Art Fair in New York City, and the Naples Art Museum.

“There is no life without light,” Pedigo explained as she discussed her work. ‘I am enthralled and preoccupied by light’s incredible power to transform my perception of objects, spaces, and the human body. Revealing and obscuring forms, visual reality is in constant flux. Light is fleeting. Life is fleeting. Shadows move across the living room, white curtains become a dance of pale blue and evening’s orange light; my own skin dissolves or emerges from a blue wall. The inherent beauty I see in these small interactions drives my painting practice. In the form of mark and color, I record the beauty and complexity inherent in my mundane surroundings, giving testament to my conscious effort to be present in this world.”

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