Accomplished North Carolina artist Dale McEntire will exhibit a collection of abstract paintings and sculptures — Nature Revisited — at Artists Collective | Spartanburg Tuesday, March 2, through Saturday, March 27, giving the public a perspective of nature through the lens of abstraction.
The exhibition will be open for public viewing at no cost Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. All COVID-19 pandemic safety protocols will be in place, including requiring patrons to wear face masks and to stay at least six feet away from other people.
“We are so glad to have Dale as a guest artist in March,” Collective Chairwoman Beth Regula said. “His work is both beautiful and thought provoking. As a sculptor, I’ve been a fan of his 3-D work for many years. I recently had the opportunity to see some of his 2-D work, and it is fantastic. It is truly abstract — not nonrepresentational. Even though it is complex and colorful, you can definitely see the reality on which the work is based. It is the kind of art you have to really look at and digest to understand. It is well worth the effort.”
Patrons will see “paintings and sculptures that are abstracted in some aspects but with a foundation in nature,” McEntire recently said. “My wish is to bring a little glimpse of the profound wonder, beauty and creativity of nature and try to honor it.”
McEntire includes himself in “a movement of painters and sculptors identified as ‘Nature Symbolist.’ It has inspired me to create work that is about the essential quality of nature. For me this is a spiritual essence that is underneath the obvious form and can be sensed with time and awareness. My goal is to refine my own personal language of this inner form and create an object of beauty and skill.”
The work that will be on exhibit will be made from oil, pastels, stone, wood, cast glass, and steel. It will all be for sale, ranging from $1100 to $6500.
McEntire is a native of Western North Carolina with lineage that dates back to the early 1800s. He currently lives in the mountain town of Saluda in North Carolina, about 40 miles from Spartanburg.
In his artist’s statement, he said: “Surface line and color are important elements I am engaged with. The paintings have steadily become more abstract as I interpret nature and its energy with the goal of expressing place and experience. As a sculptor I work with stone, steel, cast glass and wood. My work is conceptual interpretations of readings and ideals.”
McEntire’s formal education is from Mercer University, Brevard College, and Penland School of Crafts. He has studied privately with Karl Loshe of Tryon, NC, and Carsten and Richard Eggers of Germany. His work has been exhibited greatly since 1994 in places such as Chevy Chase, MD; Roswell, GA; Washington, DC; Chattanooga, TN; and throughout the Carolinas.
His studio in Saluda is Red Earth Studio. His website is DaleMcEntireArt.com.
“I am pleased to have the opportunity to bring a body of work together in a large space like this,” he said referring to his Nature Revisited exhibit being shown in the Collective’s largest gallery, the Solomon Gallery. “The Collective is a unique space with a diverse group of talented artists committed to learning and sharing their art with the community. My wish is that my work allows us to connect with the interrelations we have with one another and the world we around us.”
