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Classically Contemporary – Helena Fox Fine Art – November 1, 2019

helena fox fine art
helena fox fine art gallery historic charleston sc classically contemporary
Silver Oyster Jewelry by Kaminer Haislip

Classically Contemporary—Where classic techniques and contemporary ideals meet

CHARLESTON, S.C. November 1, 2019—Helena Fox Fine Art is pleased to announce Classically Contemporary featuring artist Julyan Davis and silversmith Kaminer Haislip.

Opening reception during the First Friday Artwalk on November 1 from 5-8pm.

At the intersection of classic techniques and contemporary ideals we find artists Julyan Davis and Kaminer Haislip. Trained in centuries old techniques these two artist draw from their traditional art educations to create pieces which feel both classic and contemporary. From Julyan’s John Constable like paintings of the clouds over the Southern coast to Kaminer’s Georg Jensen like interpretation of the familiar oyster shell, these artists live and breath the history of their chosen mediums.

In his own words, Julyan Davis paints ‘for storytellers—novelists, songwriters, poets. I also paint for those who love history. There has always been a narrative thread in my work. Even when a scene was notably empty of incident, I have strived for a sense that something vital happened here, or that something will.’ The new body of work he will present for our November show continues his movement from strict plein air interpretation towards a more cerebral interpretations—a continuation of the stories told and re-told.

A true master silversmith, Kaminer Haislip studied her craft under internationally acclaimed English silversmith Alfred Ward. She knows historic and modern silver techniques and uses that knowledge to meld form and function into enchanting coffee pots which look as thought they could take flight at any moment or a functional yet funky appetizer fork—or as my momma would have called it a pickle fork. Her work is not only meant to be admired for its shape and beauty but it’s usefulness. For this show we will be highlighting her home collection as well as the oyster collection.

Join us Friday November 1, 2019 between 5-8pm to meet the artists and admire their new work.

Helena Fox Fine Art

106A Church Street

Charleston, SC 29401

843-723-0073

www.helenafoxfineart.com

Silver and Indigo Exhibition Opening + New Designs

silver and indigo exhibition

Silver Rice Spoon by Kaminer Haislip and Boo Hag Blue Indigo Baskets by Leigh Magar
Photograph by Jack Alterman

Silver and Indigo Exhibition Opening + New Designs

Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver exhibition opens to the public this evening, Friday, August 24, with a reception at City Gallery from 5-7pm. See below post for details on this Charleston silver and indigo exhibition and the Press page on this website for publicity. An artists’ lecture will take place at City Gallery Saturday, September 8 from 2-3pm. Both events and the gallery are free and open to the public.

Kaminer Haislip’s silver objects and jewelry exhibited in Interwoven is for sale. Purchases can be made by going to the Interwoven Exhibition Shop category on this website or by emailing info@kaminerhaislip.com. To view the pieces in the exhibition, visit the Interwoven Exhibition Portfolio category on this website. Both categories are temporary and will only be up for the exhibition duration.

Interwoven will be on view August 25-October 7, 2018. Do not miss this rare chance to see Kaminer’s silver objects and jewelry in person! Her fine art exhibitions mainly take place in the northeast and in museums around the country. It is extremely uncommon for her large scale hollowware to be seen in Charleston due to the lack of contemporary craft and design venues. We hope you will not pass up this extraordinary opportunity!

Kaminer’s website has been updated with her latest designs created specifically for Interwoven. Visit the Interwoven Exhibition categories mentioned above to view the artworks in the exhibition and to make purchases. Also, visit her Home and Jewelry Shop categories for additional new designs that are not in the exhibition.

Rio Grande

 

A wholesale supplier to jewelers and metalsmiths since 1944, Rio Grande is proud to sponsor the work of acclaimed silversmith Kaminer Haislip in Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver.

 

 

Kaminer Haislip’s involvement in this exhibition is funded also in part by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs and the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Program, through their joint administration of the Lowcountry Quarterly Arts Grant Program, and by the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts as well as the John and Susan Bennett Memorial Arts Fund of the Coastal Community Foundation.

Charleston City Paper – August 2018

Charleston City Paper featured on August 15, 2018 Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes artists Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, Jack Alterman, and curator Brandy Culp. Chase Quinn wrote the wonderful Charleston City Paper article below. The exhibition will be on display at the City Gallery in historic downtown Charleston, SC August 25-October 7, 2018. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

charleston city paper

Making the past present at City Gallery’s Interwoven exhibit

All That Glitters

By Chase Quinn

silver and indigo baskets

 

As Southern Living extolls, “The Good Silver is a Southern stalwart.” Indeed, one automatically pictures immaculate tea sets and monogrammed flatware passed down generation after generation, of the sort you might find on display at the Charleston Museum. On the other side of the silver coin, there’s the stock and lash of chattel slavery, required to extract the indigo that lined the pockets of wealthy planters and set the table, so to speak, for standards of wealth and culture.

It’s a history of which Brandy S. Culp, the Richard Koopman Curator of Decorative Arts at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Conn. and guest curator of the City Gallery’s upcoming exhibit Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, is well aware. The exhibit, she explains, is “ultimately about layers of history and meaning, and how we find meaning in materials.” The show will feature three artists heavily influenced by Charleston history and culture including silversmith Kaminer Haislip, textile designer Leigh Magar, and photographer Jack Alterman.

The project began two years ago when Haislip, one of the few formally-trained silversmiths practicing in Charleston, and Magar, known for her “seed to stitch” project, which takes indigo grown in her own garden and uses it to create hand-dyed and hand-stitched garments and goods, approached Culp.

“They wanted me to guest curate this exhibit, so we started with discussions of silver and indigo and how they related.”

With her rich background in the history of decorative arts, Culp explains that indigo and silver were both highly prized as raw materials throughout the ages, globally traded as commodities, and historically transformed by artisans into objects of desire.

“There’s a lot of commonality between these two as raw materials,” she says, “So what these artists have done is they are looking at these two transformative and symbolically imbued mediums and exploring how people actually shaped resources that, in turn, influenced society.”

In fact, it is South Carolina’s own Eliza Lucas Pinckney, the 16-year-old daughter of a wealthy planter, who is credited with first introducing and successfully cultivating indigo in the American colonies in 1742. Long before the ubiquity of today’s blue jeans, at the time, indigo dye was rare and expensive. Like silver, it was a symbol of status and wealth. In the two decades after its introduction, indigo would become one of the colony’s largest exports, second only to rice. That also led to a spike in the importation of enslaved labor to carry out the challenging and time-intensive process of extracting the dye, which could involve pounding the plant for up to 20 hours.

The title of the show, Interwoven, however, refers not only to this shared history and symbolism, but also to how the past and present are worked into the artists’ contemporary interpretations of these mediums. Culp explains, for example, that while Magar and Haislip have collaborated on a number of pieces for the exhibit that meld the elements of indigo and silver, they will also be displaying individual works. For Haislip, that means giving visitors, far removed from the processes of metalwork, the experience of how she forms and forges her pieces, which, while heavily influenced by tradition, are completely contemporary in their design.

“In today’s society, so many people look at her work and think that it must be cast, or that it’s fabricated,” says Culp. “She is a traditional silversmith still using a lot of the tools and the processes that people have been using for hundreds of years.”

Alterman, a Charleston native perhaps best known for his diverse portraits that capture the city’s many faces, was brought in to tie the whole story together. Through his photography, he will not only document the work on display, but will also have a series of portraits of other local artisans directly or indirectly connected to the craftmanship of indigo and silver.

In addition to the label copy that will provide some historical context for the role Africans and African Americans played in the production of indigo and silver, Culp indicates that Alterman’s contribution is also important because his portraits showcase contemporary African-American artists working in or connected to these mediums as well, including Jonathan Green and Arianne King Comer.

“This exhibit is not a comprehensive look at the subject of indigo and silver,” she acknowledges. “It’s a very specific look at these materials through the eyes of three artists. There are so many talented people that are both metalworkers and textile artists involved in indigo.”

To get a full picture of this interweaving narrative, Culp also recommends that audiences attend the artist talk, which will take place on Sept. 8 at 2 p.m., where the exhibitors will be on hand to discuss the most important stories in their work and to take audience questions.

Charleston Magazine – August 2018

Charleston Magazine highlighted in their August issue Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes artists Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, Jack Alterman, and curator Brandy Culp. The exhibition will be on display at the City Gallery in historic downtown Charleston, SC August 25-October 7, 2018. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

charleston magazine august 2018

charleston magazine august 2018

American Craft Magazine – August/September 2018

American Craft magazine highlighted in their August/September issue Interwoven: The Art of Indigo and Silver, the collaborative exhibition that includes artists Kaminer Haislip, Leigh Magar, Jack Alterman, and curator Brandy Culp. The exhibition will be on display at the City Gallery in historic downtown Charleston, SC August 25-October 7, 2018. Visit Kaminer’s website Blog for details.

american craft magazine

american craft magazine

Heavy Metal Trunk Show – June 3, 2017

Kaminer Haislip will be exhibiting her handcrafted silver jewelry and objects for sale at the Heavy Metal Trunk Show hosted by The Southern contemporary art gallery in downtown Charleston, SC.  Saturday, June 3, 2017 from 3-6pm the trunk show will take place, so come check out the event and Kaminer’s original silver designs!

The Southern is located at 2 Carlson Court, Charleston, SC 29401.  Visit http://thesouthern.gallery/ for additional information.

Exhibition at Redux Contemporary Art Center – August 2015

Fog2

Ripple1

 

Kaminer Haislip will be exhibiting her new Fog and Ripple Series at Redux Contemporary Art Center in the Connolly Gallery August 28-October 17, 2015.  The opening reception is Friday, August 28 from 6:30-8:30pm.  Kaminer hopes to see you there!

Redux Contemporary Art Center and Kaminer’s studio is located in downtown Charleston, SC at 136 Saint Philip Street.  For directions and more information visit http://reduxstudios.org.

Artist Statement:

While earning my MFA, I designed and created steel and wood panels utilizing a similar technique employed with these two new series. I recently revisited the process and the Fog and Ripple Series developed. Nickel and copper sheet have been adhered to wood panels that were then filed and finished to create a seamless appearance. Layers of spray paint were applied to the surface, which were then intuitively sanded with fine steel wool to create the hazy appearance. The sides of the 1.5″ deep panels are painted a neutral grey.

The Fog Series was inspired by light breaking through fog and clouds. Through the process of subtraction with the steel wool, I revealed hints of the nickel underneath the paint. I am intrigued by the idea that things are not always as they appear and sought to convey that concept with this series.

The Ripple Series was based on light as well, but reflecting off of a water surface as opposed to passing through something. As light bounces off of water, it changes the appearance and is temporarily a new image. Inspired by the ephemeral nature of this concept, I created my own interpretation of it with this series.

*Please note* these pieces will not be for sale on Kaminer’s website!  They are only available for purchase through Kaminer directly.  If you are interested in purchasing one, then please send an email inquiry to info@kaminerhaislip.com.  A response will be sent to you that includes pricing, dimensions, and images of works available.  You are welcome to view the pieces at Redux during the duration of the exhibition and set up an appointment to meet with Kaminer.