Sunday, November 30, 2008

if ARTwalk: Salon I & II: December 11- 24, 2008

For exhibition installation images, click here.


THE SALON I & II
Dec. 11 – 24, 2008
an exhibition at two Columbia, SC, locations:
Gallery 80808/Vista Studios
808 Lady Street
&
if ART Gallery
1223 Lincoln Street

Reception and ifART Walk: Thursday, Dec. 11, 5 – 10 p.m.
at and between both locations
Opening Hours:
Weekdays, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Saturday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, 1 – 5 p.m.
& by appointment
Open Christmas Eve until 7 p.m.

For more information, contact Wim Roefs at if ART:
(803) 255-0068/ (803) 238-2351 – if-art-gallery@sc.twcbc.com

For its December 2008 exhibition, if ART Gallery presents The Salon I & II, an exhibition at two Columbia, SC, locations: if ART Gallery and Gallery 80808/Vista Studios. On Thursday, December 11, 2008, 5 – 10 p.m., if ART will hold opening receptions at both locations. The ifART Walk will be on Lady and Lincoln Streets, between both locations, which are around the corner from each other.

The exhibitions will present art by if ART Gallery artists, installed salon-style at both Gallery 80808 and if ART. Artists in the exhibitions include two new additions to if ART Gallery, Columbia ceramic artist Renee Rouillier and the prominent African-American collage and mixed-media artist Sam Middleton, an 81-year-old expatriate who has lived in the Netherlands since the early 1960s.

Other artists in the exhibition include Karel Appel, Aaron Baldwin, Jeri Burdick, Carl Blair, Lynn Chadwick, Steven Chapp, Stephen Chesley, Corneille, Jeff Donovan, Jacques Doucet, Phil Garrett, Herbert Gentry, Tonya Gregg, Jerry Harris, Bill Jackson, Sjaak Korsten, Peter Lenzo, Sam Middleton, Eric Miller, Dorothy Netherland, Marcelo Novo, Matt Overend, Anna Redwine, Paul Reed, Edward Rice, Silvia Rudolf, Kees Salentijn, Laura Spong, Tom Stanley, Christine Tedesco, Brown Thornton, Leo Twiggs, Bram van Velde, Katie Walker, Mike Williams, David Yaghjian, Paul Yanko and Don Zurlo.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Biography: Herb Parker

There Was An Old Woman..., 2004
Mixed media
26 x 5 x 8 in.
$ 2,000

Herb Parker (b. 1953)

Herb Parker is a sculptor and possibly South Carolina’s most prominent site-specific landscape artist. The College of Charleston art professor, a native of Elizabeth City, N.C., has created outdoors environmental works throughout the nation and internationally. In addition to fifteen states, he has worked in Sweden, Japan, Italy and Canada. His South Carolina site works include those at the State Museum in Columbia, the Waterfront Park in Charleston, Chandler Creek Elementary School in Greer and the S.C. Botanical Garden in Clemson. In 1999, Parker was included in 100 Years/100 Artists: Views of the 20th Century in South Carolina Art at the S.C. State Museum. His work also is in Threshold: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life, an S.C Arts Commission exhibition of art from the Southeast that has been traveling since 2004. Parker has been represented in two S.C. Triennials and in exhibitions in more than a dozen states. The former U.S. Marine and Peace Corps volunteer holds a BFA and an MFA from East Carolina University in North Carolina and has studied in Italy through the University of Georgia.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Essay: Herb Parker

Southern Man, 2002
Mixed media
20 x 5 x 13 in.
$ 2,500

Herb Parker
by Wim Roefs

Herb Parker is better known as a nature-based, site specific, architectural landscape artist than as a studio sculptor. Nevertheless, his objects precede his outdoors work, and he has been making them for more than 30 years. While Parker also uses his studio to make models and maquettes for his outdoors constructions, most of his studio time goes to making objects. 

“I really enjoy making things,” Parker says. “I probably always will because I get irritable if I don’t make objects, play with objects, put things together. It’s a way for me to understand what I am going through in life and kind of work through my problems. It’s therapy, I guess.”

Parker’s two bodies of work both seem to focus on achieving a certain mental balance, a peace of mind. His objects are a release valve for Parker’s own insecurities, fears and problems. His outdoors, architectural works have the qualities of a sanctuary or temple, as Mark Sloan, director of the College of Charleston’s Halsey Gallery, has observed. Visitors can feel at ease in and around them. Even Parker’s 2004 Piccolo Labyrinth in Charleston’s Waterfront Park, made of round, grass pillars and a grass roof and leading to an Asian garden, had a quietude and serenity that defied the confusion and anxiety typically associated with labyrinths. 

Parker’s two bodies of work maintain their separate identities, Parker says, but are equally important to him. “My object-oriented work employs a variety of materials and is often rather personal. This work more accurately reflects the excitement and frustrations of day-to-day life than the more ethereal environmental situations.”

Part of the excitement and frustration involves the region’s and country’s politics and culture at large. In his Son of the South series, a baby is tied to a truck with an umbilical cord, and a chained body has a pistol for a head. George W. makes a connection between the country’s first president and the latest one. In Holy Water, the head under water can’t get out.

Other objects deal with interpersonal relationships, especially family interaction and its ups and downs. In Dialogue #1, the tongues of a male and female head on wheels are tied together with a chain. In Dialogue #3, a female and male head face each other tied together with a chain attached to the throats. Each head sits on top of a tower, while the towers sit on rockers. 

“This work allows me to ruminate on an idea, exploring the ambiguities, which makes differing perspectives possible,” Parker says. “I use this activity as a means of understanding and working through the perplexities of life.”

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Resume: Herb Parker

Son Of The South #3, 2004
Mixed media
18 x 15 x 6 in.
$ 3,500

BIOGRAPHICAL/EDUCATIONAL INFORMATION


1953 Born: Elizabeth City, North Carolina
1971-78 Bachelor of Fine Arts, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
1974-76 United States Marine Corps
1978-80 Peace Corps Volunteer
1980-83 Master of Fine Arts, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina
1981 University of Georgia Studies Abroad Program, Cortona, Italy


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE


1991 - Present Professor of Art, College of Charleston
2001 Project Artist in Residence, Kotakiji Temple, Kawachinagano, Osaka, Japan
1999 Visiting Artist, University of Houston/Buffalo Bayou Artpark, Houston, Texas
1998 Visiting Artist, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Denver, Colorado
1996 Project Artist in Residence, Casa Strobele, Borgo Valsugana, Italy
1988 National Visiting Artist, Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
1987-91 Visiting Instructor in Sculpture, Department of Art, Tulane University,
New Orleans, Louisiana
1987 Visiting Artist, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg, Virginia
1985-86 Instructor in Sculpture and 3-D Design, College of Saint Rose, Albany, New
York
1983-84 Instructor in Sculpture and Drawing, The Sage College of Albany, Albany, New
York

GRANTS
1993 Awards in the Visual Arts XI, Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art
1993 Artist Fellowship, South Carolina Arts Commission
1992 Faculty Research and Development Grant, College of Charleston
1991 Artist Fellowship, Louisiana Division of the Arts
1989 Artist Fellowship, Southern Arts Federation/National Endowment for the Arts

PUBLIC ART COMMISSIONS
1991-94 “Art in Public Spaces - Exciting Access,” Lafayette Regional Airport,
Lafayette, Louisiana

SITE – WORKS
2004 “Piccolo Labyrinth,” Waterfront Park, Charleston, South Carolina
“Crucibulum evolutum,” South Carolina Botanical Garden, Clemson, South
Carolina
2003 “Caracol,” Villa Montalvo, Saratoga, California
“Greer Head,” Chandler Creek Elementary School, Greer, South Carolina
2002 “Uwharrie Vista,” North Carolina Zoological Park, Asheboro, North Carolina
2001 "Takihata Dialogue," Takihata Falls, Kawachinagano, Osaka, Japan
2000 "Grosse Point Passage," Evanston Art Center, Evanston, Illinois
1999 “Cupola,” South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina
“Ark,” Buffalo Bayou, Houston, Texas
“Savannah River Sight,” Functional Follies, Savannah, Georgia
1998 “Containing The Beast,” Metropolitan State College of Denver, Denve
Colorado
1997 “Enclosure ; Vista,” Human Nature : Art and Landscape in Charleston and the
Low Country, Spoleto Festival USA, Charleston, South Carolina
1996 “Sella Santuario,” Arte Sella, Sella Valley near Borgo Valsugana, Trentino,
Italy
1995 “Crucible,” The South Carolina Botanical Garden, Clemson, South Carolina
1994 “Temple : Transit,” St. John’s Museum of Art, Wilmington, North Carolina
“Emerge : Passage,” Sculpture South 94, South Carolina State Museum,
Columbia, South Carolina
1992 “Corridor : Aggression/Egression,” Arts Festival of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
1991 “Urban/Suburban,” Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
1990 “Closure/Interior,” Southern Arts Federation Sculpture Exhibition,
Woodruff Arts Center, Atlanta, Georgia
1989 “Passage,” Toledo Botanical Garden, Toledo, Ohio
"Closure/Passage,” Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem,
North Carolina
“Untitled,”Connemara Conservancy, Dallas, Texas
1988 “Passage : Marin,” Marin County Civic Center, San Anselmo, California
"Trilogy,” Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland
“Passage/Barrier,” Arts Festival of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia
1987 “Temple,” ArtPark, Lewiston, New York
“ Excavation,” Alliance in the Park, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania
“Structures,” East Hampton Center for Contemporary Art, East Hampton, New
York
“Passage : Blacksburg,” Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University,
Blacksburg, Virginia
1986 “Transient Earth Structures,” Toronto Sculpture Garden, Toronto, Ontario,
Canada
1986 Sculpture Outdoors, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Tricentennial Salute to Sculpture, Lafayette Park, Albany, New York
1985 “Transient Earth Sculpture,” Barrett Art Gallery, Utica College, Utica, New
York
“ Parcel #3,” Pittsfield Arts Festival, Pittsfield, Massachusetts
CCA Sculpture Exhibition, Kinston, North Carolina
1984 Waterworks Gallery Sculpture Garden, Salisbury, North Carolina
1983 Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Artsplosure, Raleigh, North Carolina
Goldsboro Art Center, Goldsboro, North Carolina

EXHIBITIONS

2005 “Thresholds: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life,” McColl Center for the
Arts, Charlotte, North Carolina
“MAQUETTE,” McMaster Gallery, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South
Carolina.
“TRIENNIAL,” South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina
“Thresholds: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life,” Transylvania University,
Lexington, Kentucky (traveling).
2004 “TRIENNIAL,” South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina
“Thresholds: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life,” South Carolina State
Museum, Columbia, South Carolina(traveling)
“Thresholds: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life,” Owensboro Museum of Fine
Arts, Owensboro, Kentucky (traveling)
2003 “The Head Show,” Halsey Gallery, Charleston, South Carolina.
“Thresholds: Expressions of Art & Spiritual Life,” City Gallery at Waterfront
Park, Charleston, South Carolina.
2002 “Connecting the Past to the Future,” Door Project, Columbia, South Carolina
2001 "Selections from the State Art Collection," Bryan Art Gallery, Coastal
Carolina University, Conway, South Carolina.
2000 "Herb Parker," Joie Lassiter Gallery, Charlotte, North Carolina.
"Sculpture 2000," Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel, Maryland.
"Palmetto Tree Project," Columbia, South Carolina.
“Turning Point: South 2000,” Bank of America Plaza, Charlotte, North
Carolina.
“The ‘80s: Selections from the State Art Collection, Bank of America Plaza,
Columbia, South Carolina.
“Affinities With Architecture,” Rudolph E. Lee Gallery, Clemson University,
Clemson, South Carolina ( Traveling Exhibition )
1999 “100 Years/100 Artists: Views of the 20th Century in South Carolina Art,”
South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina
“Visual Arts Fellowship Invitational 1981-1998,” Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton
Rouge, Louisiana (Traveling Exhibition) Southeastern University, Hammond,
Louisiana. The Alexandria Museum, Alexandria, Louisiana. Loyola University,
New Orleans,Louisiana.
“Affinities With Architecture,” Belk Gallery, Department of Art, Western
Carolina University, Cullowhee, North Carolina. (Traveling Exhibition)
Carroll Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City,
Tennessee. Anderson Gallery, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond,
Virginia. University of Central Florida Art Gallery, Orlando, Florida
1998 “Affinities With Architecture,” Ewing Gallery of Art and Architecture, The
University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee. (Traveling Exhibition )
Piedmont College Art Gallery, Demorest, Georgia. Biggin Gallery of Art,
Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
"TRIENNIAL 98,” South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South Carolina
"Newcomb Foundry Show,” Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana
Selections From The South Carolina State Arts Collection 1988-1995,”
Franklin Burroughs/Simeon Chapin Art Museum, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
"Documenta, Val di Sella,” Galleria d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, Trento,
Italy
1997 "The 6th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition,”
University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii
1996 "Conception,” University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee
“Assembled/Disassembled,” Valencia Community College, Orlando, Florida
“Signs of Contemporary Art,” South Carolina State Museum, Columbia, South
Carolina
1995 “Sculpture in the Park,” Baton Rouge Gallery, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
1993 “The Last Supper,” (One-person show) Second Street Gallery, Charlottesville,
Virginia
1992 “Objects, Interiors,” (One-person show) Halsey Gallery College of Charleston,
Charleston, South Carolina
“Invitational Alumni Exhibition,” Gray Gallery, East Carolina University,
Greenville, North Carolina
1991 “The Shrine Series,” (One-person show) Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane
University, New Orleans, Louisiana
“War,” Artist on War, Contemporary Art Center, New Orleans, Louisiana
1990 “The Cross Show,” X-Art Gallery, New Orleans, Louisiana
“Louisiana in Black Light,” Newcomb Art Gallery, Tulane University, New
Orleans and Union Art Gallery, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge,
Louisiana
“Champagne Celebration, A Faculty Exhibit,” Tulane University, New Orleans,
Louisiana
1989 “City on a Hill,” Traveling exhibition sponsored by the Georgia Museum of
Art, Athens, Georgia - Palazzo Casali, Cortona, Italy
“10th Annual Montpelier Invitational Sculpture Exhibition,” Montpelier
Cultural Art Center, Laurel, Maryland
1988 “National Visiting Artist : 9th Annual Montpelier Invitational Sculpture
Exhibition” (One-person show), Montpelier Cultural Arts Center, Laurel,
Maryland
1986 “Hudson Valley ‘86,” Barrett House, Poughkeepsie, New York
“A Birthday Party : 50 Years of the Mohawk Hudson Regional,”
University Gallery, State University of New York, Albany, New York
“The Recycled Image,” (three -person show), Rensselaer County County for the
Arts, Troy, New York
"Art 86,” Center Galleries, Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York
“Mohawk Hudson Regional Art Exhibition,” Schenectady Museum, Schenectady,
New York
"Flag Art : A Tricentennial Invitational,” Albany Institute of History and
Art, Albany, New York
1985 “Shrines,” (two-person show), Pittsfield Community Arts Center, Pittsfield,
Massachusetts
"Hudson Valley ‘85,” Barrett House, Poughkeepsie, New York
“Northern Telecom’s Fourth Exhibition of North Carolina Sculpture,” Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina
“Interplay,” The Gallery, Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany,
New York

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Humans: October 6-17, 2006

if ART, International Fine Art Services
presents at
Gallery 80808/Vista Studios
808 Lady St., Columbia, S.C.

JEFF DONOVAN – JOHN MONTEITH
DOROTHY NETHERLAND – HERB PARKER
H u m a n s

Oct. 6 – 17, 2006

Artists’ Reception:
Friday, Oct. 6, 5 – 10 p.m.

Opening Hours:
Saturday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, 1 – 5 p.m.
Weekdays, noon – 7 p.m. and by appointment

For more information, contact Wim Roefs at if ART:
(803) 238-2351 – wroefs@sc.rr.com


For its October exhibition at Gallery 80808/Vista Studios, if ART, International Fine Art Services, will present “Humans,” an exhibition with work by Jeff Donovan, John Monteith, Dorothy Netherland and Herb Parker. The opening reception for the exhibition is Oct. 6, 5:00 – 10:00 p.m. Opening hours are Saturdays, 11:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.; Sundays, 1:00 – 5:00 p.m.; and weekdays 12:00 – 7:00 p.m. or by appointment. For more information or to make an appointment, contact if ART’s Wim Roefs at (803) 238-2351 or wroefs@sc.rr.com.

Donovan and Monteith are both from Columbia; Netherland and Parker are from Charleston. All the art in the exhibition will have a human presence in the form of figurative elements.

“That doesn’t mean it’s a figurative show,” if ART owner Wim Roefs said. “It’s just that in different ways, the human factor shows up in this work. Monteith’s work consists of portraits but with a twist. Donovan’s pieces all have the human figure in them some way or another. Netherland paints symbolic compilations in which portrait and figures, often inspired by 1950s magazines, play an important role. And Parker’s sculptures are about humanity and typically include heads and the human body or part thereof.”

Donovan will be showing paintings and ceramic works. Monteith’s oil paintings are on thin but solid plastic sheets. Netherland’s paintings are on glass. Parker’s pieces will be mixed-media works.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Works of Art: Herb Parker

All works of art by Herb Parker are available at if ART Gallery, 1223 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC.

Contact Wim Roefs at if-art-gallery@sc.twcbc.com or (803) 255-0068/(803) 238-2351.






There Was An Old Woman..., 2004
Mixed media
26 x 5 x 8 in.
$ 2,000












Dialogue #3, 2004
Mixed media
14 x 25 x 5 in.
$ 2,000










Southern Man, 2002
Mixed media
20 x 5 x 13 in.
$ 2,500














George W., 2001
Mixed media
13 x 4 x 16 in.
$ 1,500













Son Of The South #3, 2004
Mixed media
18 x 15 x 6 in.
$ 3,500










All works of art by Herb Parker are available at if ART Gallery, 1223 Lincoln Street, Columbia, SC.

Contact Wim Roefs at if-art-gallery@sc.twcbc.com or (803) 255-0068/(803) 238-2351.