Galleries Visual Arts

Blue Spiral 1: Variety and Industry

Gear Wheel and Arm. Kenneth Baskin, artist.

Blue Spiral 1 presents five special exhibitions this month, beginning on Thursday, May 4, with an opening reception from 5–8 p.m., and running through June 23. New work from 24 artists will be shown, including large-scale oils from painter John Cleaveland, Jr., a Georgia-based artist known for his attention to detail, and knowledge of and respect for southern landscapes.

“Cleaveland has really hit his stride,” says gallery director Jordan Ahlers. “His compositions are fully realized, conveying mood and narrative, with the landscape and sky taking center stage.”

Three-dimensional work by Robyn Horn and Kenneth Baskin will be featured with Cleaveland’s paintings in the main gallery space. Horn’s Industrial Series incorporates pine beams salvaged from a warehouse roof, and weathered surfaces littered with bent nails, screws and rebar. Baskin’s ceramic sculptures, also influenced by the history of industry, bear witness to the might and integrated purpose of the factory.

Connected by Fire: Wood-Fired Invitational, in Gallery One, will feature utilitarian pots, vessels, vases, wall hangings and abstract pieces created by 19 artists from five countries. In the Showcase Gallery, Tamie Beldue’s drawings, illustrating her talent in portraiture and figurative work, will be shown alongside Christina Brinkman’s monochromatic and organic ceramic forms. The Small Format Gallery will highlight works by John Paul Vincent, who uses the Japanese technique of drawing on tinted paper.

Blue Spiral 1 is located at 38 Biltmore Avenue, in Asheville. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 12–5 p.m. on Sunday. Learn more at bluespiral1.com, or by calling 828.251.0202.

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