Friend Michael Pierce has recently organized and curated several art exhibitions for his students and that he thought some of you might also like to see. Several of these shows include Friends or have connections to Friends that you may know. You can contact Michael at mapierce2001@comcast.net if you’d like to have him meet you at any of the following venues for a personal tour:
Stream of Consciousness – Artwork by Gerry Bannan and Genesis Chapman: This exhibit is on view in the Tyler Gallery on the Midlothian Campus of John Tyler Community College where Michael teaches studio classes in the Fine Arts. You can see this show now through March 11, 2022. Both Gerry and Genesis are Virginia-based artists, and their monumental watercolor and ink paintings highlight their shared appreciation of nature and the environment. Michael curated this exhibit so that his
students could get a chance to see this amazing world class artwork right on campus. Some of you may know Genesis’s family, who have connections to Roanoke Quaker meeting. The Tyler Gallery is in Room E107, Eliades Hall, JTCC, 800 Charter Colony Parkway, Midlothian, VA 23114 and is open to the public M – Th, 11:00am – 3:00pm. (A link to a video artist talk will be forthcoming.)
Theme & Variations – We Thought COVID Would Be Over By Now: This exhibit is on view at CVA / U-Turn Inc. on Maywill Street in Richmond,
now through May 2022. This show includes bodies of work created by Michael’s Fall 2021 JTCC advanced watercolor students. Participating artists include Friends Roni Kingsley, Sallie Rugg, and Janet Scagnelli, amongst others. This satellite show of Artspace Gallery is housed in the CVA / U-Turn Inc. facility at 2101 Maywill Street, Richmond, VA 23230, and exhibit hours are Tu – Sun, Noon – 4:00pm. An in-person Reception for the Artists is scheduled for 6:00pm – 8:00pm, Friday, March 4, 2022, and is free and open to the public. (A link to a video artist talk will be forthcoming.)
Theme & Variations – Highlights from the COVID Times: This exhibit will be on view at the Downtown Branch of the Richmond Public Library from March 4 – March 30, 2022. This show includes paintings created in the middle of the pandemic by Michael’s Fall 2020 and Spring 2021 JTCC advanced watercolor students. The Downtown Branch of the Richmond Public Library is located at 101 East Franklin Street, Richmond, VA 23219. Hours are M – F 10:00am – 5:00pm and Sat 10:00am – 5:00pm. A First Friday, Opening Reception for the Artists is scheduled for 6:30pm – 9:00pm, March 4, 2022.
You had best be wary…: This is a show of Michael’s artwork that will be on view at Patrick Henry Community
College in Martinsville from March 1 – Mid-April 2022. This exhibit includes work that Michael made during the pandemic. Some of it, he made while in a quickly aborted stay in an artist residency in Paris at the very beginning of the pandemic; these pieces were based on images of rabbits and foxes in the Unicorn Tapestries in the Museum of the Middle Ages in Paris. For me, the rabbit is an obvious stand-in for us humans during the pandemic, and the fox represents the virus. There are also blurry watercolor images of rubber gloves inspired by Chaucer’s Pardoner’s Tale; that’s also where the title of this exhibition comes from. Michael is asking: How do we protect ourselves in these times (or any times) and how careful do we need to be? The gallery is free and open to the public on weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Walker Fine Arts Building, 645 Patriot Avenue, Martinsville, VA 24112.
Photo from Stream of Consciousness at John Tyler Community College. Diptich – Same Place, Two Years Apart, Kettle Hole, Bent Mountain, VA, Christmas Eve 2011 and 2013” by Genesis Chapman / Actaeon by Gerry Bannon / Cold Tub Pool, Bottom Creek Bent Mountain by Genesis Chapman.