Courtesy of http://southsideartgallery.com/
For this month only, Southside Gallery is hosting an exhibit featuring multimedia works from Blair Hobbs, Susan Bryant and Billy Renkl. The exhibition, titled “Roman Holiday,” is a collection of works from each artist representing his or her individual perspective of Italy from experiences of traveling abroad.
In some ways, taking a trip to Southside Gallery this month is like taking a trip to Italy and seeing exactly what each of the artists finds fascinating. The three distinct styles from each artist reveal just as much of Italy as the next does, but within their own unique respects.
Blair Hobbs, a poetry teacher at the University of Mississippi, uses multimedia works on canvas, combining drawings and collage techniques to create vivid, textured images. Hobbs’ works are intended to capture the inner workings of her mind, showing us just how bubbling and innovative she is. These concepts are evident in “Roman Tour,” the first of her works, displayed directly adjacent to the entrance of the gallery. Hobbs’ exhibit features a wide range of bright and dazzling colors and cut out fantastical beings. Prominent themes in her paintings include vines, leaves and flowers.
“One thing that makes the city so beautiful are the many window boxes,” she said. “I love the boxes of living color against the ancient buildings—the contrast is soul-stirring.”
Courtesy of http://southsideartgallery.com/
Hobbs’ “When In Rome” contains a dark purple and black landscape with beautiful contrasting roses. The hues of purple are stunning, and Hobbs explains the shade of purple was inspired by a specific type of marble highly prized in Rome.
Billy Renkl, a professor at Austin Peay State University, has a crafty collection of works featuring illustrations of architecture from all over Italy laid out on top of Italian legal documents and other literary works.
“Basilica di San Pietro,” one of his more in-depth, outstanding pieces. It depicts the face of St. Peter’s Basilica along with a monolith. The darker shades of blue help contrast details and cause each window and hall to stand out distinctly.
Renkl spoke of his choice in architecture and history in Italy.
“Italy is a great place to think about that– ancient ruins, baroque palaces, Renaissance churches all co-exist beautifully, and they are all still alive,” Renkl said.
Each of Renkl’s pieces features specific architecture.
“The Pantheon” includes a vivid illustration of the Pantheon inside and out, and everything in between.
“There just isn’t anything like it in the world,” Renkl said on his visit to the Pantheon.
Susan Bryant, who is also a professor at Austin Peay State University, has a series displayed entitled “Italian Gestures.” Each photograph contains a unique hand from a statue in museums and churches across Italy.
“For me, the hand is one of the most fascinating subjects of photographic representation,” Bryant said.
Courtesy of southsideartgallery.com
Her interest for hands goes back many years, and still she finds it awe-inspiring how people can use hands to communicate with one another and express individuality.
Bryant also has three photographs on display of various landscapes across Italy. The photographs are stunning and vast, but what makes the photographs interesting is the process Bryant took in creating the images.
“Florence Sunset” includes the gorgeous city of Florence with an incredible look at the skyline at sunset. The original photograph includes bright and beautiful colors, but after using a type of process known as wet-collodion, the photograph became much more than what she originally anticipated it to be.
“It became more romantic, more picturesque and more impressionistic” Bryant said. “As I watched the image transform from what I saw and watched to what it became as an object, I was struck with how timeless it became.”
The “Roman Holiday” exhibit will be featured at the Southside Gallery until Oct. 30. On Oct. 27, there will be an artists’ reception held at the gallery with each artist in attendance.
