Art In Motion
April 24, 2012
By JOSEPH SITARZ
Index-Journal
Greenwood, SC - Real cars might be cruising the streets of Greenwood, but art depicting "Art In Motion: Moving on the Back Roads" is on the walls of the Arts Center at the Federal Building on Main Street in Uptown Greenwood. "Art in Motion: Moving on the Back Roads" features the works of two South Carolina artists, Amanda Mensing and Darlene Fuhst.
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The art exhibit is being held in conjunction with the Vintage Chevrolet Cars of America's Southeast Conference in Greenwood through this weekend.
There is an artists reception from 5-7 p.m. Thursday at the Arts Center. The reception is free.
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The reception is being billed as high lighting the "Blooming Days of Car Culture" with music, food, drinks and other things. There will be classic cars outside of the Arts Center.
Greenwood is hosting the vintage car groups Region 9 conference. Activities include a car show starting at 10 a.m. Friday at the fountain in Uptown Greenwood. Also, the Royal Scotsman Band performs from 7-9:30 p.m. Friday. The car show and concert are both free.
"Art in Motion: Moving on the Back Roads" has 34 pieces and is in the Countybank Main Gallery. Also, in the Special Exhibits Gallery is "Heartstrings: A Journey from Trauma to Healing." This exhibit is in partnership with Greenwood Sexual Trauma and Counseling Center and designed to draw focus on Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Works in the exhibit are by local artists, poets and sexual trauma victims. The exhibit was organized by Charlotte Ehney, who works for Greenwood Sexual Trauma and Counseling Center in Greenwood.
Thursday's reception is also for "Heartstrings."
"Art in Motion: Moving on the Back Roads" draws merit to the notion of an ongoing "American Love Affair" with vintage automobiles, according to Arts Center program/gallery director Jennifer A. Smith.
"The exhibition attempts to create a sentiment of 'nostalgia' and a sense of 'being on the road' observing the fragments of a unique era in American culture," said Smith, who was aware of Fuhst's work, but had to find Mensing.
Fuhst's works are mostly of vintage neon road signage. Mensing is an automobile and landscape artist.
"I was formerly familiar with Darlene's signage work, but I found Amanda Mensing through online research," Smith said. "She is one of a few South Carolina artists who deal with the classic automobile as content for her art."
Mensing earned her bachelor's degree in art from Anderson College in Anderson. She is a multiple award-winning artist and has exhibited in art shows across the country. She has painted commissioned pieces for Sysco Trucking Co., car dealerships and private individuals. She has painted automobiles for about 10 years.
She has also taken part in the Oil Painters of America National Juried Show for four consecutive years and received an award in the 2004 show. Only about 200 paintings are selected each year from the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Fuhst said her paintings are focused on the exploration of color, texture and form.
"I utilize a saturated color palette, off-kilter compositional arrangements and a photorealistic painting style to direct and heighten the viewer's attention in an effort to get him or her to thoughtfully consider and engage with the subject matter, objects to which they may pay little or no attention to in day-to-day life," she wrote in her artist's statement.
"The subjects of my paintings are exclusively manmade, in particular vintage neon signs from the 1940s to the 1970s," she continued. "It was the ear of the road trip and classic roadside 'attractions' such as pink dinosaurs, Tee Pee motels and coffee shops featuring futuristic Googie architecture. It was the age of the space race in our country, where everyone was sure they'd soon be driving flying cars and enjoying endless leisure time thanks to the robots who would be doing all the manual labor."
For more about Fuhst, visit www.darlenefuhst.com or read here blog at www.dlyoost.com. For more about Mensing, visit www.mensingfineart.com.
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