The Artists Collective | Spartanburg will present the works of 16 Upstate artists in the third annual “Glow Show: Creating with Light,” subtitled “Bio-Luminescent,” July 1 through 26 in Gallery III.
An artists’ reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, July 17, as part of Spartanburg ArtWalk. The reception and exhibition viewing are free and open to the public.
“The artists in this show are working with media that glows under black light. The room will be lit with black light to make the art glow with a luminosity,” says Sally Y. Weber, who is coordinating the show and is one of the participating artists. “My passion for things that glow is a driving force for my glow works and this exhibition. I want to share this awesome experience.”
Visitors to the exhibition “will feel a hush as they step into a room of wonder with bio luminous art,” she adds. “The wonder of the beautiful paintings glowing softly in the darkened room fills a person with awe and delight.”
Participating artists will be:
Skye Winter, painting and photography; Brandi Tucker, painting; Patty Wright, photography; Janis McElligott, painting; Judy Martin, stained glass; Karina Manukyan, ceramics; Craig Denesha, acrylics and mixed media; Lady Pluuto, painting; Robyn Crawford, mixed media and photography; Nancy Williamson, ceramics; Thomas Koenig, photography; Cassandra Stephens-Johnson, painting; Gary Turpin, oil painting; Becky Dodrill, oil painting; Jim Weber, ceramics; and Sally Weber, ceramics
“As we travel through this life of artistic creation, it’s nice to start looking forward to a different kind of creation – not just beautiful art, but beautiful experiences,” says Weber. “This is why we have a Glow Show, where we tap into the essence of light to bring unexpected moments of appreciation and joy in new, old and altered mediums.
“Fluorescent paint is quite new; it was only discovered in the 1930s,” Weber adds. “Some of us might also remember the wonderful glowing posters of the ’60s, but all of us and many humans living long before electricity existed, have wondered at the beauty of naturally fluorescent squid, mushrooms and rocks. On the shores of lake Michigan, there are fluorescing rocks deposited by a glacier centuries ago. In New Jersey, one old mine shaft has walls that glow like melted neon crayons in blacklight. Most of us will never visit these places or meet those reclusive sea creatures, but some of us can bring that beautiful experience to others.”
Weber says, “Besides the art of the show itself, we should treasure the odd smiles and stunned expressions of our visitors as they enter and exit our darkened room of brilliant pieces. Taking soft steps around the room, blacklight testing pieces here and there, we each take our own journey from piece to piece. It is dark but comfortable and enchanting – which probably contributes to our Glow Show’s reliable and enthusiastic attendance over the years.”
The artists exhibiting are all members of the Artists Collective, and they are “delighted to challenge themselves to work with such an awesome different kind of medium,” she adds. “The Collective is a great place to learn skills on showing our work.”