UPCOMING EVENTS;

August 8th 2008

Tanner Hill Gallery

3069 South Broad Street Suite 3

Chattanooga, TN 37408

423.280.7182

www.tannerhillgallery.com

By Ann Nichols

Arts Writer

Everything will be priced at $1,000 or less in “Red Dot,” Tanner Hill’s exhibition opening Friday.

“The show came about as a request from our regional clients who wanted an opportunity to purchase small-scale pieces by established artists or new work by undiscovered talents,” said Annie Sherrill, gallery assistant.

Tanner Hill focuses primarily on emerging and midcareer contemporary painters and sculptors who normally exhibit through the gallery at nationally vetted shows in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago. However, some of the artists in “Red Dot” have never shown in the Southeast.

“This exhibit offers buyers a chance to purchase works by emerging artists before they have been discovered by a wider audience,” said Ms. Sherrill.

Photographer Mel Hughes is one of the artists new to the gallery. His aerial photographs of the Chattanooga area were taken from a helicopter.

“My favorite times of the day are late evening and early morning because the lighting is more dramatic and the shadows more pronounced,” he said.

What is unique about this work is the vantage point. He said that sometimes areas that are so familiar can become almost recognizable from the air.

Austin Center also will be exhibiting at Tanner Hill for the first time. He will display several pieces from his sculptural ceramics series that has evolved during the past 12 years.

“I was studying art in Florence, Italy, and my instructor said, ‘Why don’t you try doing in your ceramics what you are doing in your paintings,’ ” said Mr. Center.

He begins by throwing white stoneware vessels on the potter’s wheel, turning them upside down and attaching hand-built organic forms that reference nature, mechanical or industrial shapes. Mr. Center glazes many of these constructions with vibrant colors.

“Red Dot” will continue through Sept. 19. A reception will be held 5:30-8 p.m. Friday.

Tanner Hill Gallery, 3069 S. Broad St., Suite 3, is open noon-5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and by appointment. For information, call 280-7182.

‘Abstraction’

Austin Center is featured in a solo show at Karpeles Museum through Jan. 20

By Ann Nichols Arts Writer

Austin Center considers himself a modern painter. He points to the works of British artist J.M.W. Turner as the birth of abstraction and also as a source of personal inspiration.

"In realism, there is a horizontal line and when you take that away the result is abstraction," said Mr. Center. "Abstraction then asks the viewer to decide what he or she is looking at — it makes you think for yourself."

Mr. Center explores this concept in his own paintings and drawings, which are being shown at the Karpeles Museum in Charleston, S.C. The exhibition, "Abstraction," showcases about 30 pieces that illustrate the artist’s depth of knowledge in the mediums of egg tempera, pastel, acrylic and clay.

Many of the paintings in the show incorporate paint that Mr. Center made. Grinding his own pigments and mixing them with egg yolks (which serves as a binder) is "more of a sculptural way of painting," he said. On unprimed canvas, he works the egg tempera paint into the surface so that it actually becomes part of the material.

His painting process is intuitive.

"I don’t begin with a preconceived idea of what I’m going to do," he said. "I put the colors on, step back and see how they interact before I continue."

His sculptural clay pieces combine wheel-thrown bases with hand-built components that resemble forms from nature.

The signature mark in all of his art is a curved line resembling an arch.

Currently a resident of Charleston, Mr. Center grew up in Chattanooga. It was in Debby Phillips’ art class at Bright School that the young, independent thinker first began trusting his own inner voice with confidence. Other major influences in his career include the late ceramist Sinclair Ashley, woodcarver George Gabb of Belize and painter Jules Maidoff of Florence, Italy.

After graduating from the College of Charleston with a studio arts degree, Mr. Center attended Italy’s Studio Art Center International. He spent the next six years in New York City, where he taught various art classes and developed an early childhood arts curriculum for the Children’s Museum of the Arts and Thompson Street Playgroup.

With his recent move to Charleston, he has established his own studio and is a full-time artist. Through his art, he plans to continue investigating on his own and furthering his understanding of the process behind creating.

"A s long as I’m doing what I feel and expressing my thoughts, the work will be authentic," he said.

"Abstraction" will remain on display through Jan. 20. The Karpeles Museum is located at 68 Spring St. in Charleston. For information, call (843) 722-6854.

This story was published Sunday, December 19, 2004

Copyright © 2004, Chattanooga Times Free Press, Inc. All rights reserved. This document may not be reprinted without the express written permission of Chattanooga Times Free Press, Inc.

Spencer Art Gallery III, Large Painting Gallery, Now Thru November, 55 Broad Street, Charleston, South Carolina.

Umbedingt Gallery, 511 1/5 King Street, Charleston, South Carolina.

"Abstraction". November 20, 2004 thru January 20, 2005, Karpeles Museum, 68 Spring Street Charleston, South Carolina, opening and artist reception November 20 from 11am to 4pm.

Steve and Barbie Potts' House, "One Night With An Artist", January 29, 2005, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Press Releases;

The Karpeles Museum------------ News Release ---------------- 1 November 2004

The Karpeles Museum at 68 Spring Street, Charleston, South Carolina, will present from 20 November through 20 January 2005 a special exhibit entitled “Abstraction”, paintings, drawings, and sculptural works by Austin Neal Center.

Austin Center is a multi-talented artist who expresses himself very creatively in a broad range of media. His formal training is extensive. Early training including painting lessons in oils, acrylics, and pastels as well as woodcarving and ceramics. After graduating from the College of Charleston with a Bachelors degree in Studio Arts, Austin lived in Florence, Italy where he was a student at Studio Art Center International where he studied painting and art history under the tutelage of Jules Madioff. While in Italy, Austin also studied ceramics including creating a series of raku firings in Tuscany and working with terra-cota and Majolica and learning new techniques in glazing. Austin has also studied wood carving with George Gabb of Belize.

“The Karpeles Museum is pleased to present this exciting exhibit,” says Jerry Spencer, Museum Director. “Austin Center is a committed artist. Prominent collectors own pieces of his work. He is creative and versatile, yet somewhat traditional and classical using methods and media such as handmade egg tempera and creating his own pigments for painting.”

Austin Neal Center currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, working in the Austin Center Studio and exhibiting at the Big Painting Gallery, Spencer Art Gallery III, at 55 Broad Street, Charleston, South Carolina, and at Umbedingt Gallery at 511 ½ King Street, Charleston, South Carolina, where his most recent Ceramic sculptures are being exhibited.

The Artist will be present at a reception in his honor to be held at the Museum on 20 November 2004 from 11am until 4pm. Refreshments will be served. The public is invited. (843) 722-6854.