“Summers Spent” at the Hotel by Caroline Morris
The City of North Charleston's Cultural Arts Department is pleased to announce that concurrent solo exhibitions of works in a variety of media by Shelby Corso and oil paintings by Caroline Morris will be on display at Park Circle Gallery from July 5-29, 2023. A free reception hosted by the Charleston based artists will be held at the gallery on Friday, July 7, from 5:00-7:00pm. The public is invited to attend.
I Want to Eat the Earth You Walk On – Works by Shelby Corso
In her exhibit, I Want to Eat the Earth You Walk On, Shelby Corso explores the transmutations of feminine desire. “There are systematic contradictions in the ways in which feminine desire is constructed and expressed,” she explains. “My work articulates women's complicated relationship to desire, and how this relationship is mediated by popular fiction, fairy tales, and horror media.” The featured paintings and soft sculptures utilize symbols related to femininity often found in fantasy and horror media, such as ribbons, bows, pigtails, horses, bunnies, stuffed animals, fairies, flowers, and butterflies. Additionally, Corso's use of a bright, saturated, and full color palette makes the work appear surreal and poetic.
Shelby Corso earned a BFA in Painting from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2020. Her work is in permanent collections of the Met Council (New York, NY), Charleston Behavioral Health and Wellness (Charleston, SC), and the Arts in Healing Gallery at MUSC (Charleston, SC), and has been displayed in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Baltimore, New York City, and Charleston. She has been a resident/teaching artist at Redux Contemporary Artist Center and a teaching artist at Trident Academy in Charleston, SC, since 2021. Learn more about the artist at www.shelbycorso.com.
Summer Fun – Oil Paintings by Caroline Morris
Summer Fun is a series of oil paintings created by Charleston-based artist Caroline Morris. Painted primarily with a palette knife, each piece is heavily textured and uses bright colors to depict various activities that people typically enjoy during the summer months. “I choose to paint my figures with few descriptive details and to leave them faceless because then the viewers can look into my memories or even substitute themselves into the paintings,” Morris explains. “In this series I hope to convey the message that regardless of age or income, everyone can enjoy the summer season.”
Caroline Morris is a recent graduate of the College of Charleston, earning a BA in Studio Art and Arts Management in 2022. Her work has been in exhibited in a number of group shows in Charleston and has earned awards from the College of Charleston Sustainability Department, the Salon des Refusés Annual Juried Student Exhibition, and the Painterly Home Art Competition. While mainly working in oil paints, she sometimes likes to experiment with watercolor and and sculpture and finds much of her inspiration from her friends and family, music, and nature. Learn more about the artist at www.carolinamorrissart.com.
The Park Circle Gallery is located at 4820 Jenkins Avenue in North Charleston. Admission is free and free street parking is available on Jenkins Avenue in front of the gallery, as well as on the adjacent streets and in parking lots close by. Gallery hours are 11:00am-6:00pm Wednesday-Friday, and Noon-4:00pm on Saturday. For more information about PCG, call 843-637-3565 or email culturalarts@northcharleston.org. For information on other Cultural Arts programs and artist opportunities, visit the Arts & Culture section of the City's website at www.northcharleston.org.
