Press Release
South Arts and ArtFields Present Southern Voices/Global Visions
Two of the leading regional arts organizations partner for a city-wide exhibition celebrating 42 contemporary Southern artists.
On view September 23 through December 3, 2023
Lake City, SC - South Arts and ArtFields are proud to present Southern Voices/Global Visions, a city-wide exhibition in Lake City, S.C., featuring the works of 42 contemporary artists from 12 Southern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia.
This groundbreaking exhibition showcases the work of previous recipients of the ArtFields Competition and the South Arts Southern Prize & State Fellowships for Visual Arts, both of which challenge traditional notions of Southern art and explore the complexities of regional identity in a globalized world. On display September 23 through December 3, 2023, the exhibition will span four venues across Lake City, South Carolina.
Established in 2013 with a mission to celebrate Southern art and revitalize Lake City through the arts, ArtFields’ annual showcase of the competition transforms the town into a multi-sited gallery, as local businesses display hundreds of artworks and artists compete for $100,000 in prizes.
As a response to a gap in regional funding opportunities for individual artists in the South, South Arts established the Southern Prize and State Fellowships for Visual Arts in 2017. Created in acknowledgment of the important role artists play in the wellbeing of a region’s culture, the program annually awards $80,000 to nine artists through state fellowships and an opportunity to win the Southern Prize for Visual Arts.
In an inaugural partnership, South Arts and ArtFields are joining forces to celebrate 42 recent winners of these respective programs in an exhibition that activates multiple spaces with art exhibits and programming across the city. Southern Voices/Global Visions features work that embodies the diverse perspectives and experiences that define the Southern region. Collectively, this exhibition will be one of the largest public displays of contemporary Southern art. The curatorial team, consisting of renowned curators Amalia Amaki and Eleanor Heartney, has meticulously selected the artists and artworks that will captivate visitors throughout the exhibition’s course.
"Southern Voices/Global Visions is an invitation for viewers to question the context of a Southern artist and whether regional distinctions are relevant in today's interconnected society," said Harriett Green, project manager and exhibition consultant. "We are thrilled to be presenting an exhibition which challenges preconceived notions and showcases the richness, complexity, and global relevance of Southern art."
“Southern artists are creating groundbreaking, incredible work,” said Susie Surkamer, President and CEO of South Arts. “From cutting-edge media installations to two dimensional work, and following themes including social justice, identity, and equity, we are proud to help share the visions of artists from across our region in this exhibition.”
Southern Voices/Global Visions engages the diverse perspectives of artists who are native to the region, as well as those who have chosen to make it their home. Their works capture the tension between an evolving present and an unresolved past, influenced by urbanization, technology, globalism, and climate change. The exhibition is also organized into four thematic sections, each exploring different aspects of the Southern experience (each detailed below, along with participating artists and venues).
Global Views of Home | Jones Carter Gallery
Global Views of Home presents a vision of the South that acknowledges the porous nature of borders and the hybrid quality of contemporary identity. Artists who are Southern by birth join artists who are Southern by choice to reflect on the many ways that one can make a home in the world.
Artists among this section are:
Maggie Evans, Georgia
Raheleh Filsoofi, Tennessee
Sisavanh Phouthavong Houghton, Tennessee
Maggie Kerrigan, Virginia
Lori Larusso, Louisiana
Sherrill Roland, North Carolina
Anastasia Samoylova, Florida
Noah Scalin, Virginia
Alexi Torres, Georgia
Mythically Speaking: Southern Past | TRAX Visual Art Center Gallery 1
Mythically Speaking: Southern Past exemplifies the truth of Faulkner’s famous remark that “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” This section of the show presents the work of artists who delve into various aspects of Southern history as a way to understand our complicated present.
Artists among this section are:
Jeremiah Ariaz, Louisiana
Tyrone Geter, South Carolina
Karen Ocker, Louisiana
Masud Olufani, Georgia
Marielle Plaisir, Florida
Colin Quashie, South Carolina
Bill Steber, Tennessee
Sounding Off: Southern Present | TRAX Visual Art Center Gallery 2
Sounding Off: Southern Present brings together artists who explore the social, cultural, and political realities that together have created the contemporary South. They remind us that this is a region that is unique and distinctive but is also an integral part of the world around it.
Artists among this section are:
Becky Alley, Kentucky
Nik Botkin, West Virginia
Kate Burke, Georgia
Hannah Chalew, Louisiana
Antonio Darden, Georgia
MyLoan Dinh, North Carolina
Garrett Hansen, Kentucky
Noelle Mason, Florida
Kristi Ryba, South Carolina
Loren Schwerd, Louisiana
Kirkland Smith, South Carolina
Marian Zielinski, Georgia
Digging Deeper: Personal Identity | Crossroads Gallery
Identity is often thought of as a mask that we present to the world or a cage that defines how the world perceives us. When perceived this way, the categories of identity - among them race, gender, age and ethnicity - can be very reductive. The artists here suggest other more expansive ways to think about identity. Digging into their personal histories, dreams, traumas and desires, they explore how a sense of self is the product of the interactions between private realities and the demands of the given world.
Artists among this section are:
Stephen Hayes, North Carolina
Ming Ying Hong, Mississippi
Forrest Lawson, Florida
Peter Lenzo, South Carolina
Fahamu Pecou, Georgia
Vickie Pierre, Florida
Points of Intersection | The ROB
In Points of Intersection, artists present immersive installations that encourage the audience to engage with other disciplines and fields of study. Moving from STEM to STEAM, some of these installations reveal how art can articulate and reinvent concepts from the vital disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Other areas of intersection are multidisciplinary in nature, showing how visual arts may incorporate elements of literary, performance, dance, media arts and other fields of artists’ interest.
Artists among this section are:
Michaela Pilar Brown, South Carolina
Craig Colorusso, Arkansas
Jenny Fine, Alabama
Jamey Grimes, Alabama
Amy Gross, Florida
Masud Olufani, Georgia
Herb Parker, South Carolina
Andrew Scott Ross, Tennessee
Alba Triana, Florida
States listed by artist names are their states of residence at the time they were awarded either the ArtFields Competition or Southern Prize & State Fellowships.
The exhibition will be also accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, providing in-depth insights into the artworks, artist biographies, and thought-provoking essays by leading art critics and scholars.
During the opening weekend, Florida sound artist Alba Triana will be joined in conversation with guest co-curator Dr. Amalia Amaki for a discussion of her works in the Lake City Library Community Room at 12:00 pm on Saturday, September 23. Following their conversation, there will also be an exhibition walkthrough led by Amaki from 3:00–4:30 pm at the ROB.
In conjunction with the opening programming, there will be a reception on September 23, featuring a performance by Jenny Fine and dance students from the J. Paul Truluck Creative Arts and Science Magnet School at the ROB and concluding with a Southern Dessert Reception in the Courtyard at the Inn at the Crossroads.
For more information about the exhibition, opening weekend, or presenting artists, please visit www.southernvoicesglobalvisions.com.
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About South Arts
South Arts advances Southern vitality through the arts. The nonprofit regional arts organization was founded in 1975 to build on the South’s unique heritage and enhance the public value of the arts. South Arts’ work responds to the arts environment and cultural trends with a regional perspective. South Arts offers an annual portfolio of activities designed to support the success of artists and arts providers in the South, address the needs of Southern communities through impactful arts-based programs, and celebrate the excellence, innovation, value and power of the arts of the South. For more information, visit www.southarts.org.
About ArtFields
In 2013, Lake City, SC engaged in an experiment to revitalize the town by using the arts to attract tourists. Since its inception, the ArtFields Collective has awarded 111 prizes to 98 artists from 12 Southern states. The ArtFields art competition celebrate Southern art and draws thousands of visitors from throughout the Southeast and beyond during its 10-day run. Artworks exhibited in a combination of traditional gallery spaces, businesses, local non-profits, and outdoor spaces transform Lake City into a vibrant creative environment. Throughout the year, ArtFields manages rotating exhibitions in Jones-Carter Gallery, TRAX Visual Art Center, and Crossroads Gallery, along with a robust public art program and youth arts programming. For more information, visit www.artfieldssc.org.
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