By Kathleen O. Brown
Beginning this month, Blue Spiral 1 in downtown Asheville will present three new exhibitions—a collection of works by various artists in the exhibition Mark Making, pieces by artist Bill Jones and creations by sculptor George Peterson. An opening reception for the exhibitions will be held Friday, January 9, from 5–7 p.m. All three exhibitions run through February 25.
Cherry Jungle. Sarah Boyts Yoder, artist
Mark Making, an exhibition of painting, printmaking, fiber and ceramics, features artists employing gestural marks as a central expression. This group exhibition examines the nuances of mark making as an artistic practice through works by Eleanor Annand, Grant Barbour, Christina Brinkman, Frank Hursh, Amy Putansu, Jon Rollins, Katie Walker and Sarah Boyts Yoder.
Charlottesville, VA-based painter Sarah Boyts Yoder says visual artists can “compare the marks they make to the notes a musician plays when creating a song. Those marks or notes are the tools we have, but they are also what unlock the creative expression of the everyday tools we use, our instruments,” Yoder says. “They are how we construct our work. Everyone has their own signature, or way of playing and making their marks. Over the years, I’ve developed my own visual vocabulary of marks and forms that I always ‘play’ with. They are how I build all my paintings. I like to feel fast and fluid so I adjust my paintbrush or drawing tool, the surface I’m working on and the consistency of the paint to achieve a particular speed and fluency that allows me to improvise and make connections.”
Jug Form No. 2. Bill Jones, artist
In its Small Format Gallery, Blue Spiral 1 will exhibit works by Bill Jones, an artist working in Western North Carolina who says his show will be about drawing and will feature ceramic wall pieces, cups and a self-portrait. “I consider much of my practice to be drawing, but maybe not in the conventional sense,” Jones says. “Throwing at the potter’s wheel to me is just drawing in three dimensions as is my process of assembling pieces from thrown parts. The functional cups in the show might be thought of as sketches, while the wall pieces are more abstract compositions. These wheel-thrown parts that many of my pieces are made of are what I’m referring to as ‘moments’ in my work. What I love about clay is that it’s a perfect record of what you do to it. All these individual thrown parts are to me gestures or moments and they represent how we take in the world as a collage of feelings, senses and memories—all at once.”
Blue Spiral 1’s Showcase Gallery will feature George Peterson: INREALLIFE, a collection of new pieces in Peterson’s ongoing series of works with recycled skateboards and mixed media made at his studio in Brevard. The sculptor says the exhibition will include 10 new mosaics and a large installation of individual boards.
“Skateboarding is a creative and expressive act,” Peterson says. “It’s also a super-destructive act that is punishing to the boards. Used boards show a not-so-subtle story of movement and force that’s told through the worn graphics and whatever else is left—stickers and hand-drawn art or cool patterns cut into the grip tape. Sometimes the story is a jagged, splintered edge. Sometimes it’s repetitive gouges and scrapes. Sometimes the boards are still in one piece and great for carving and painting. I use all these elements to build works that tell a tactile story through shapes and colors.”
Blue Spiral 1 is located at 38 Biltmore Avenue, Asheville. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, visit BlueSpiral1.com or call 828.251.0202.
