Upstate artist Robert (Bob) Poe likes to doodle. Then, his doodles become his paintings, some of which he will show in his exhibition, “Interconnections,” May 7 through June 29 in the Solomon Gallery of the Artists Collective | Spartanburg.
An artist’s reception will be held Thursday, May 16, as part of ArtWalk Spartanburg; the reception and admission to the gallery are free and open to the public.
“The title of this exhibit, ‘Interconnections,’ is intended as a metaphor,” says Poe, a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, who now lives in Greenwood. “The titles of two of the works in the show, ‘Borders’ and ‘Haiku,’ also are metaphoric. The shifts in color, shapes, and lines represent surprises along the way and the dynamics of those relationships are fluid.”
Poe says his paintings begin as doodles. “I look for the energy in my doodles as a composing force. What begins as a line, may become an edge, a color, a shape, or a space. The composition changes as the dynamics/energy of the marks change. It tells me whether it is too small, too big, too sweet or sour, too loud or too quiet – interconnections.”
Poe earned a degree in art from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and a master of arts degree from East Tennessee State University. He has taught art in public schools and at Brevard College. He received the Max Beckman Scholarship to the Brooklyn Museum School of Art in Brooklyn, New York. He moved to Greenwood in 1972 to start an art department at Lander College. He taught art education, design, photography, and painting for 38 years before retiring and has maintained a consistent record of producing and exhibiting his work regionally and nationally while teaching. In 1981, he won a Fulbright year in England for himself and his family, which extended his exhibiting opportunities for showing internationally.
“I enjoy keeping in touch with my former students and colleagues, meeting new artists, and seeing their work,” says Poe, who continues to paint and photograph daily in his home studio.