The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea opens a new exhibit introducing two new artists in, “Reveal: Don Ament and Joyce Garner.”
This exhibit will open Jan. 7 and continues through April 30, 2017, in the lobby and gallery hall of the center. Both artists work in large two-dimensional formats and focus on color in their compositions.
Don Ament, of Lexington, became interested in photography in high school, but struggles with cataracts and corrective surgery gave him visual challenges. In 1986 he met a photographer who encouraged him and he began teaching photography workshops.
“When teaching I soon discovered that every photographer sees the world differently and that eyesight is only one part of the complex process of making art,” Ament said. “I basically learned to get out of my own way.”
Ament states that his primary interest as a photographer is to inspire a deep emotional connection to the natural world. He seeks out exceptional light and color and water often becomes the subject of his compositions.
Ament’s large scale works involve creating large photographs that are divided into long, slender panels with visual spaces between each panel. When viewed these gaps invite the viewer to seamlessly fill in the missing parts giving each photograph a sense of movement.
Joyce Garner regularly shows her work in her gallery Garner Narrative: Contemporary Fine Art in Louisville, KY.
Garner is known for her colorful and figurative large oil paintings on canvas. Her paintings almost always include people, often gathered around a table. Her work is bright with color and full of whimsy and the scale of her paintings brings the viewer right into the composition.
“I love to work big,” said Garner. “By using big color and scale I can sink into a painting and swim all around, even if it is just with my eyes.”
Garner often looks at society and her paintings express her own contemplation and personal point of view. The painting ”Cards on the Table” speaks to how people make wagers with what is dear to them. The players are dogs and they are wagering with shoes.
The center’s Reveal exhibit program provides an exhibition opportunity for 2-D artists whose large works cannot be accommodated within the center’s regular retail spaces and are selected via an annual statewide call-to-artists.
The Kentucky Artisan Center features works by more than 750 artisans from more than 100 counties across the Commonwealth. Special exhibits currently on display include, “Have a Seat: Chairs by Kentucky Artisans,” through March 18, 2017. For more information about events call 859-985-5448, go to the center’s website or visit us on Facebook.
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is located at 200 Artisan Way, just off Interstate 75 at Berea Exit 77. The center’s exhibits, shopping and travel information areas are open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the cafe is open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free.
The Kentucky Artisan Center at Berea is an agency in the Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Pictured right: Is "Sittin Pretty" - 84" x 54" oil painting by Joyce Garner
