Robert Lange Studios and Cypress: Partners for the 2013 Palette and Palate Stroll

Elasticity by Mia Bergeron

Robert Lange Studios represents artists and photographers who demonstrate the finest of contemporary American Realism and Abstraction. The gallery is working as a catalyst in the city, representing some of the city’s finest, most innovative artists who are changing the art scene in Charleston. For the Palette & Palate Stroll, the gallery will present Mia Bergeron in her first solo show titled “Gradual Thaw.” Mia Bergeron has created a series of paintings that will take viewers on a visual journey of what drives, motivates and inspires her creative process.

“I picked this name because it represents both what happens in spring time, just before plant life blooms, but also as it relates to a mental state. I had all these rules for being a person, a painter, etc. I think I’m in a transitional stage of my life, as many people are, and some of those previous rules and ideas about myself, my work,  and my world are melting away to make room for new growth. A lot of the titles of paintings in this show refer to this evolution,” says Bergeron.

Chef Craig Deihl, photo by Peter Frank Edwards

The gallery is partnering with Cypress  for this year’s Palette and Palate Stroll. Cypress, housed in a historic two-story building on East Bay Street in downtown Charleston, S.C., opened in 2001. Led by two-time James Beard nominee Craig Deihl, the team at Cypress uses Lowcountry ingredients to showcase Deihl’s signature style. Executive Chef Craig Deihl, recognized as one of the nation’s youngest, talented chefs, infuses classic Lowcountry cuisine of the South with an innovative combination of flavors from around the globe. In 2007, Deihl authored his first cookbook, Cypress, which has immediately received rave reviews from culinary experts.

The menu, which includes dishes such as Crisp Wasabi Tuna with a ginger-garlic glaze and Certified Angus Beef® Filet of Beef with housemade Boursin cheese, is complemented by a wine list displayed in a three-story wine wall, featuring vintages from well-known to small, boutique wineries around the world. The menu also includes selections from Deihl’s award-winning in-house charcuterie program, the Artisan Meat Share, which produces over 80 types of meats.

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Painting in the Park: Featuring Amy Lind

Amy Lind‘s status as an emerging figurative painter is becoming more and more evident. At the young age of 27, Lind’s work had already graced the cover of two nationally renowned magazines, Art Calendar (May 2010) and American Art Collector (December 2010), and in February (2011) she was named Southwest Art magazine‘s “Artist to Watch: the Editor’s Choice for Up-and-Coming Talent.” She was recently recognized with honorable mentions in the prestigious Art Renewal Center Salon and the Portrait Society of America’s Member’s Only competition.

Homecoming by Amy Lind

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design and additional instruction from the Florence Academy of Art and the Bay Area Classical Artist Atelier, Lind’s eclectic training is visible in both the traditional and contemporary qualities that her paintings possess. Compelled by the striking subjects around her, she poetically infuses captivating qualities of color and intriguing light into each of her paintings while attempting to convey a sense of life, beauty, and truth.

Lind’s work hangs around the world in both public and private collections. On top of gallery work, she is sought out by many for her uncanny ability to capture the likeness and essence of those she paints. Furthermore in addition to the fine art world, her paintings can now be found published in a Penguin children’s book titled “Marcel the Shell With Shoes On: Things About Me”.

Lind grew up in the Chicagoland area, recently had the opportunity to live in sunny California for three years, and now calls beautiful Savannah, Georgia her home where she lives with her husband in their quaint 1930 brick bungalow. She is represented by Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC.

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Painting in the Park: Featuring Charles E. Williams

Charles E. Williams II represented by Robert Lange Studios in Charleston, SC, grew up in historic Georgetown, South Carolina. From an early age, he felt a strong connection to the area’s many waterways. Their inspirational beauty proved to be his first love, and also, the muse for his art.

Charles Williams

Williams combined his love for nature and painting as a landscape artist working in oils. He is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design and has exhibited with galleries in the southeast including: Pei Lang Gallery, Lagerquist Gallery, Michael Murphy Gallery and also with the Robert Lange Studios. In 2009, Williams was awarded the Hudson River Fellowship to study with elite artists, Jacob Collins, Edward Minoff, and Travis Schlaht and others founded by the Grand Central Academy in New York. Williams was one of the many artists that showcased in the Institute of Classical Architecture and Classical America exhibition in New York. He paints as a full-time artist and works on commissioned paintings throughout the year, as well as featured pieces in corporate and many private collections.

His signature drip style of contemporary landscapes fused with traditional practices has led him to many collectors. Recent exhibitions in South Carolina include Southern Exposure, Capture, What We Choose, and Fortune. He was selected for the 2011 Southwest Art Magazine issue of 21 Emerging Artists under 31, as well as a semi-finalist for the landscape category in Artist Magazine.

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Painting in the Park: Featuring Fred Jamar

Fred Jamar represented by Robert Lange Studios has brought a new infusion of intellect and energy to Charleston’s art scene. Born in the village of Stembert in Southern Belgium, near the site of the Battle of the Bulge, he has been a world traveller through most of his adult life. After graduating with honors from the Belgian Maritime College – he was valedictorian – and three years at sea, he studied finance. With an MA-equivalent degree, he joined J.P. Morgan & Co, where he helped to found a clearing house for Eurobonds in 1967. That organization has grown from its initial cadre of five to become a European bank with over 2,500 employees. Staying with Morgan, Fred worked in a sector focused on global credit exposure – a crystal-ball activity analyzing nation-by-nation and industry-by-industry credit risks. He covered the globe. He has lived in Brussels, Paris, London, Frankfurt and New York. There are no continents and very few countries he has not seen.

In the early 1980′s Fred was based in the United States, and chose Kiawah as a favorite family vacation spot. That led to a solid acquaintance with Charleston. When the time came to take early retirement in 1997, he chose to settle here “in the most European of American cities.”

Central among Fred’s many interests is a lifelong love of painting. When he was a small boy, his mother would sometimes paint little floral scenes and give them to her children. he also had a neighbor who created backdrops for theaters. Stimulated by these and other examples, he developed a great zest for artistic creation. As a child, he would paint on bed sheets, on cardboard, anything flat. In the Merchant Marine, he used discarded tarps from the engine room. To this day, he enjoys process more then product. The smell of the oils and turpentine, the texture of the canvas, sensuality of brushes and paint are more important to him than any result.

Crisscrossing by Fred Jamar

His favorite medium by far is oil. He likes to experiment with new textures and techniques, sometimes putting brushes aside in favor of a knife or trowel. He typically composes as he applies the paint, with perhaps just one or two lines penciled on the canvas to guide him.

Influences include Van Gogh, Modigliani, Utrillo. Bernard Buffet (seen in his portraits, especially his clown series) and Suzanne Valadon.

He is enormously prolific, with over 90 works completed in the past year alone. He is also successful. Fred has had several solo exhibitions at local galleries, and has been selected as an exhibiting artist with the Charleston Artist’s Guild. In 2002 he won the Cooper River Bridge Run Design Competition, which greatly expended his regional exposure, and was juried into his first Piccolo Spoleto exhibition.

His recent work has been dominated by Charleston cityscapes – not seen, however, with the traditional eye. The sky is generally very dark, inky “Prussian” blue, and starless. The trees are assembled color masses, balloon-like in appearance, and the buildings are intensely vivid in form and color, an impression heightened by the overhanging darkness. The paintings are bright – but also lonely. The mood is stock still. Most have no human or animal figures. It is as if Edward Hopper painted an abandoned carnival at 3:00 A.M. They are brilliant.

Written by Dennis Style for The Gallery Guide

Olivia Pool of Art Mag interviews artist Fred Jamar at Robert Lange Studios

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Painting in the Park: Featuring Robert Lange

Robert Lange began painting at a young age but in university he studied mathematics for two years before transferring to Rhode Island School of Design.

Robert is chiefly influenced by Julia Jacquette, his former teacher who taught him new perspectives leading him to become professional in 2003. At first he specialized in realism, but after opening his second gallery in 2010, he saw his paintings became more surreal and less focussed on narrative.

His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally collected. Lange has been featured in numerous magazines, including the cover of American Art Collector and Art Magazine, and in New American Paintings.

We have an interview with Robert Lange of Robert Lange Studios, an artist who believes that “there are no ordinary moments.” Robert will participate in the CFADA’s Painting in the Park in Washington Park on November 3 from 9am till noon.

What do your collectors tell you they particularly like about your artwork?

A unique sense of happiness. I always hope to imbue the paintings with an overwhelming sense of grabbing life by the heels and living, of taking nothing for granted and seeing any moment as extraordinary. Whether it overwhelming sadness or joy, adventure or calm, I hope the paintings capture those moments when our humanity sings.

How would you describe your audience?

Glass half full people.

Would you help me describe your paintings to new collectors? What phrase best reflects how you want to be described?

I hope to be a painter who paints anything and everything, having the work always be informed my own experience and the experience of those I am fortunate enough to interact with. I wish to be the seen as a person on an unending journey to draw out and paint the character of this beautiful world we live in.

If there’s one thing you would like collectors to know about you, the artist, what would that be?

I believe everything and anything is possible, that our imagination and connection to each other will lead us to the reality we all wish to see.

What would you say has been the major turning point in your commercial career?

The day I decided to reclaim my imagination. I feel as though I am a child again painting whatever creations float throughout my mind.

What do you want art collectors to your work? 

Go by Robert Lange

A sense of a magical reality. Narratives consisting of situations that look possible but not plausible. If the work was to reference a sense of surrealism it would be within the breadth of Rene Magritte. Scenes where at first glance nothing seems out of place even though the skydiver barreling down toward the Himalayas is without a parachute or even a shirt for that matter and is only wearing a pair of camouflage shorts.

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Robert Lange Studios Features Kerry Brooks Colored Pencil Works “Waxing Poetic” in February

Masquerade by Kerry Books

Through the month of February and opening on February 4 from 5-8 p.m., Waxing Poetic, showcases the Prismacolored pencil works of artist Kerry Brooks. Robert Lange Studios located at 2 Queen Street in the historic district in Charleston, SC, presents this classically trained contemporary artist with her solo show featuring a series of fifteen Prismacolor pencil drawings that explore the artists interest in finding narrative beauty contrasted against simple settings.

On view through the end of February, the exhibit is the artist’s first showing of colored pencil works in the historic French Quarter district of downtown Charleston but the third solo show that RLS has hosted of her work.  A festive reception open to the public will be held on February 4, starting at 5:00 p.m. featuring wine, hors d’oeuvres, and music.

Kerry Brooks studied at the Repin Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia and at the Ukrainian Academy of Art in Kiev. Brooks’ interest in female beauty is apparent in her new series of Prismacolor pencil drawings.

“A lot of these are very quiet moments,” says Brooks. “But the idea for them came when I was living in rural Illinois and I would see a lot of shabbiness, but also beauty. I was drawn to finding glamour in spite of disappointing circumstances or tragedy.”

“With Kerry’s new Prismacolor work, she has combined her great strengths- the delicacy of her oils and the precision of her graphite,” said gallery owner Robert Lange.  “This allows her to expresses her subjects emotion in a subtle and romantic way.”

Through manipulation of the formal constructs of a painting Brooks’ creates portraits that reveal the particular character of her female subjects. The focus in her series lies within the delicate moments of these women and their interactions with the viewer.

Of this recent body of work Brooks says, “While I paint and draw from a thoroughly western perspective – a classical interest in the human body and the trappings of human experience – I also endeavor to imbue my work with a certain eastern spirituality. I consider my portraits as windows into the lives of my subjects, often presenting the subject in a state of intense and dignified stillness.  I strive to make paintings and drawings that are beautiful and meaningful, based on both my own interests and the timeless principles of classical art.”

Digital images are available upon request.  Contact Megan Lange at (843) 805-8052 or info@robertlangestudios.com.

Robert Lange Studios features the best of contemporary painters and photographers.  RLS is open everyday from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. and by appointment.  To view work online and learn more about the artists, please contact RLS at (843) 805-8052 or visit www.robertlangestudios.com.

 

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“The Soft Embrace of a Porcelain Night” by Nathan Durfee Opens at Robert Lange Studios on October 1

Robert Lange Studios upcoming exhibit, The Soft Embrace of a Porcelain Night, features the work of contemporary painter Nathan Durfee. The Soft Embrace of a Porcelain Night is a striking body of narrative paintings and one very large suggestive dreamscape. Durfee will be at the October 1 event from 5:00 – 8:00 and the work will hang until October 28 at the 2 Queen Street location.

Nicks Slow Morning by Nathan Durfee

Durfee’s unique style was recently recognized when he received the award for Best Visual Artist in Charleston from the City Paper (2009).  Embraced as a favorite by the community, Durfee’s presence in the Charleston art scene has grown since being picked up by Robert Lange Studios in 2007.  The charismatic painter was the featured Piccolo Spoleto Jazz Series artist and recently on the cover of Charleston Art Magazine. His latest group of paintings created a stir when the seven-panel dreamscape was unveiled at the beginning of August to a select group of collectors.

“As soon as it leaked out that the dreamscape was finished,” said gallery owner Robert Lange, “people were calling wanting to take a look at it.”  The piece will be unveiled to the public during the October 1 opening.

In describing the work, Durfee says, “The show is about contrast – dark moments in colorful packages. The title, The Soft Embrace of a Porcelain Night, gives a bit of insight as to what I’ve discovered through painting the

series. In each work, undertones of endearment show through despite the character’s obviously uncomfortable predicaments.”

There is a dark humor in Durfee’s paintings, macabre in their staging yet whimsical in their overall presentation.  The artist, born in 1983, studied traditional portrait painting and received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design. As his current work intrepidly exhibits, Durfee decided to take his art in a different, less traditional direction. “I’m transfixed by the idea of creating worlds we can only dream of.  I thought I would be a traditional, realistic painter when I first went to art school…but I quickly discovered that if I’m able to create a reality, why do I need to adhere to the one we live in now?” Durfee said.  This ability to create both conventional and alternative realities allowed him to push and pull his work from the realistic to the abstract with imaginative skill, gaining attention amongst his peers in the art community.

“I was amazed when I saw one of Nathan’s traditional works,” said gallery owner Robert Lange. “The idea that Nathan made a choice and was never hindered by his ability to render gives an added level of understanding to his

work.”

The Dreamscape by Nathan Durfee

The seven panel panorama, ‘The Dreamscape’ 114” x 36” oil on canvas, depicts moments found in the imagination, yet is still referencing the artist’s reality.  ‘The Dreamscape’ is anchored by a decapitated self-portrait of Durfee as Frieda Kahlo holding an ego driven #1 foam finger. Yet another panel depicts Chicago artist Nick Cave’s costume/sculptures, consisting of brightly colored fabrics and elaborate embroidery.   Durfee consistently intrigues the viewer; leaving them searching within the narrative for more hidden clues while illustrating his insecurity with his own skill.

In the painting “Michael Tries to Fly in Style,” Durfee makes reference to the De Stijl art movement.  A giant pink elephant adorned with a set of wings designed by the likes

of Mondrian and Rietveld, sits precariously on the edge of a cliff reading the wing’s instructions. The overtly cheerful, yet in some regards somber painting challenges the viewer to question whether the subject is ready to fly: is he satisfied with what De Stijl has created for him? In this piece, the elephant, which embodies both Durfee and the art movement’s spirit, must take the leap. In many of Durfee’s paintings, the characters are at the mercy of their created situations.

“Many of the works hold a tinge of sweet melancholy. The characters long for something, caught in their own internal conflict of love or growth,” said Durfee. “This is set against beautiful backdrops, which remind the viewer that despite the small trials, they live in a wondrous world.” The mood of each piece is affected by both the different color tones the artist chooses as well as the subjects’ varied gestures. While a narrative is suggested in all of these works, it is left to the viewer to ultimately complete each story.

“The show brings out life’s soft moments of happiness, sadness, and sometimes the darkness that lies below the surface, embracing the full spectrum of emotion,” said Durfee.

Digital images are available upon request. Contact Megan Lange at (843) 805-8052 or info@robertlangestudios.com.

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Robert Lange Studios and Social: Partners for the 2010 Palette and Palate Stroll

Legacy by Joshua Flint

Robert Lange Studios (RLS) represents artists and photographers who demonstrate the finest of contemporary American Realism and Abstraction. The gallery represents some of the city’s finest, most innovative and imaginative artists who are changing the city’s art scene with abstract, original works. On July 16, the gallery will feature Joshua Flint and Charles Williams in a joint show titled “STILL: MOVING.” The show features a stunning and engaging body of paintings that chronicle the motion and stillness found in both city life and nature. The gallery is located in a new space at 2 Queen Street in downtown Charleston, SC.

Robert Lange Studios is pleased to be joined by one of Charleston’s most exciting restaurants, Social Restaurant and Wine Bar, for this special event. Located in the heart of downtown Charleston, Social offers a casual and cosmopolitan setting. The restaurant is renowned for its wine selection and exceptional wine and food pairings. Executive Chef Norwood Pryor has spent his whole life in the food industry. When he was a child, Pryor’s parents owned a restaurant in Richmond, VA. Later at age 16 he took his first culinary job at a family owned Italian café. Pryor has worked at many Charleston restaurants, including 82 Queen, Sea Biscuit Café, Cordavi, Oak Steakhouse and before joining Social Restaurant + Wine Bar, Carolina Yacht Club. Pryor says that he finds cooking to be the perfect art form. “Food is my paint, the sauté pan my brush, the seasons are my muse, the plate is the piece, the palate is the critic and the memories of a great meal are the museum that the pieces hang in,” said Pryor. “I love the joy that my artwork brings to the people indulging in it.”

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Robert Lange Studios Features Contemporary Landscapes by Charles Williams and Cityscapes by Joshua Flint July 16

Robert Lange Studios upcoming exhibit, Still : Moving, features the work of the contemporary landscape artist Charles Williams and cityscape painter Joshua Flint. Still : Moving, is a stunning and engaging body of paintings that chronicle the motion and stillness found in both city life and nature. Both artists will be at the July 16 event from 5:30 –8:30 presented as part of the CFADA Palette & Palate Stroll.  This year RLS has been paired with Social Restaurant, who will be catering the event.  The work will hang until August 12 and can be seen daily from 11-5PM.

Flint and Williams’ unique styles compliment each other while contrasting the beauty of two very different elements of the South. The grouping of paintings of marsh scenes and city streets, the smallest of which is no bigger than a hand, manage to portray grand sweeping vistas and tall cascading buildings. Both artists’ works capture in their peaceful views, how simple life could be and translate this feeling into idyllic paintings.

“There is something about the history of Charleston that makes me excited to capture it on canvas,” says Flint. “The cornices decorating storefronts, the arches and doors, and the way some buildings will lean up against each other, all tell a story.”

Legacy by Joshua Flint

Visitors to the exhibition viewing Flint’s work are provided with paintings that visually communicate the conjured emotions of a Charleston history.  No work better demonstrates the painter’s ability to capture a moment in time than “Legacy,” a larger 36-by-24 inch oil on canvas work. The painting draws the viewer into Charleston with its brown and gray depiction of historic One Broad and then releases them to explore the city as the streets fade out on either side.

Like Flint, Williams’ series captures the unique quality of Lowcountry light as well as inspiring moments at various times of day. Williams, who recently studied at Hudson River School, painting style is a contemporary update of the American landscape tradition and continually exceeds the expectations of collectors.  This series in particular demonstrates Williams’ ability to meticulously render the details of the landscape and in the same painting, the liberty to let the paint drip off the canvas in an abstract way.

Joshua Flint working on 'Legacy"

“The horizontal line of a landscape painting can create a thoughtful and sensitive moment,” says Williams, “ and the drips along the bottom of my work signify the freedom I feel while painting nature.  These feelings resonate into the viewer and are transmitted into the room around them.”

One of the pieces for the show, “Still Moving” is a painting of the mid-evening light dancing on the surface of water; the horizon line fades into a soft blue sky, which is reflected in the water below. The 12-by-16 inch oil on canvas piece captures the movement of water to such an extent, and with the addition of Williams’ signature drips, it appears it will spill out onto the wall below.

“Each work demonstrates an act of restraint on the artists’ part, where they must walk away leaving the focal instant of the piece to stand within the impressionistic moment of what is being painted,” says Robert Lange.

Charles Williams in his studio

Williams is a graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design and has exhibited with different galleries in the southeast, where as Flint attended the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.

The exhibition will hang from July 12 – August 12, 2010, and a festive reception, featuring music, wine, and catering by Social, is part of the ticketed CFADA annual Palette and Palate Event on July 16, 5:30-8:30 PM.  Please contact the gallery for ticket information.

Please visit www.robertlangestudios.com or call for more information 843.805.8052. Digital images of art works are available upon request.

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Robert Lange Studios Hosts “Go” – Series of Paintings that Portray People of Nepal

Robert Lange has spent the last five weeks in Nepal on a 150-mile hike through the Himalayas. Inspired by the idea of surrendering as an artist, he created a series of paintings that portray people in possible but not plausible situations.  On June 4, 2010 the show, “Go,” will be unveiled at Robert Lange Studios from 5-8PM with a reception that is open to the public.

Changing Us 10" x 20" oil on linen Robert Lange

Lange’s Go series, inspired by his recent trip, is composed of twelve works. The first eight paintings were fueled by the anticipation of this trip and upon his return the final four pieces are a reaction to the experience. Along with the new works, Lange has created a short film highlighting moments captured while exploring Nepal.   In describing this body of work and the trip, Lange states, “The goal of this journey was to reclaim the use of my imagination. Along the way I was graced to find an entire culture radiating contentment.  The people of Nepal, regardless of age, still possess their childhood abandonment and each person is willing to connect and share their happiness.”

In the past year Lange’s realism has teetered on the edge of surrealism, most notably in his Measure Creatures Great and Small show last July, where he shrunk massive animals to palm size morsels. The work for this show is no different in its playfulness; the paintings have a sense of, as Lange calls it, “magical reality.”

The paintings include scenes where, at first glance, nothing seems out of place. “Go” is the title painting for the show; the 36-by-36 inch oil on panel work shows Lange’s ability to create works that exist in both realistic and imaginative worlds.  The piece depicts skydivers barreling down toward the Himalayas. It is only upon closer inspection that the viewer sees that the skydivers are without parachutes and not separate individuals but the same person at various stages of freefall. For the opening night Lange will be giving away 500 10-by-10 inch prints of the piece.

On giving away the prints Lange says,  “Whether it be overwhelming sadness or joy, adventure or calm, I hope the paintings capture those moments when our humanity sings and I want every person to leave the show with a reminder of that feeling.”

A casual wine-and-cheese reception open to the public will be held on Friday, June 4, 2010 from 5-8 p.m. and the work will hang until June 25.

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