Few towns of comparable size can match Aiken for the wealth of its cultural amenities. We have a thriving performing arts scene and a plethora of local authors and practicing visual artists.
In regard to the latter, there is no better showcase than the annual member show of the Aiken Artist Guild, now on view at the Aiken Center for the Arts until June 13. Of the 120 or so works submitted for this exhibition, 16 were singled out for special commendation. Let’s take note of those prize-winning entries.
Honored with the ribbon for “Permar Best in Show” is an oil by Corinne Kenney titled “Starfish Fishers.” Fitting into the category of genre painting, a depiction of everyday people engaged in everyday activities, the work focuses on three young boys searching for starfish at low tide, a common enough coastal obsession.
What elevates this particular work, however, is the artist’s painterly treatment of the figures and her apt color choices. This sun-dappled scene is reminiscent of the work of Spanish post-impressionist Joaquin Sorolla, who focused on capturing beach activities in a range of pale tones. Critics called his approach “luminismo” for the way the light is distributed over the painted surface. Kenney is a worthy successor.
Three other works captured the top awards. The prize for “Colgate Best Aiken Scene” went to photographer Patrick Krohn for “Polo Groom,” a black and white image that reverses expectations. In this case, the man and his equine charge are captured in heavy shadow, their figures backlit and outlined in white. The “Van Zile People’s Choice” award went to Nanette Langner for a watercolor that captured the public imagination, a highly articulated rendering of an elderly farmer in overalls gazing fondly upon his brood of chickens at mealtime.
Perhaps the most unusual piece in the current show gained recognition for its “Diverse Media,” and that is “Nature Revealed” by Lark Gildermaster Smith. As its title indicates, this is a work that revels in revelation; in this case, it is the unfolding of multiple, sepia-colored images of the natural world captured in a concertina book. Traditionally made from a long strip of paper subsequently folded in accordion style, this particular creation, set as it is on a stand-alone pedestal in the center of the gallery floor, resembles a Japanese folding screen in miniature. The essential message, as revealed on one of the book’s pages, is that “nature reveals art.”