Up & Coming Weekly

Narrative Visual Artist Interprets Human Emotion in the 21st Century by SONI MARTIN It’s always good to have an experienced artist move to our city and region. Gallery 208 opens Thursday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m. to introduce Atlanta, Ga., artist Chuck Lawson to the city of Fayetteville. After moving from Atlanta to Fayetteville, Lawson is in his fi rst year of teaching in the fi ne art program at Fayetteville Technical Community College. Already Lawson’s artistic contributions have made an impact in the community. He is the new director of FTCC’s art gallery. When I called him for information, he was scheduled that particular day to give three gallery tours of the most recent exhibit he curated — a graffi ti exhibit. Visitors to Gallery 208 will be introduced to a mixed- media artist whose work is colorfully political. DYSTOPIA: An Exhibition of Work by Chuck Lawson is an interwoven tale of cut paper, water color, emotion, unrest, dynamic design and an unfolding story. No hidden narrative here, Lawson’s playful collage images are like characters in a volatile environment of bedlam. Lawson emphasizes design polarities to express his story: dark against the colorful, playful against the emotional, stylized realism against abstraction, smiling dancers against a backdrop of chaos. The overriding dark social commentary in Lawson’s work has an unexpected twist — people are smiling in the midst of the chaos! Lawson is obviously aware of the best way to emphasize something, include an element of its opposite. He stated, “When working with fi gures, layers of texture and pigment over the fi gures’ skin heightens the sense of concealing all things that are natural about a human body. The hiding of our true selves whether invoked by society, culture or the speeding up of our post industrial habitat, is revealed not only by the concealing of our appearance but metaphorically by the concealment of our thinking processes. Collectively, this produces a nightmarish slice of the 20th century consciousness that is infused with a hint of humor.” Lawson is more than happy to talk about the narrative element and the content in this series of work and shares his intent in his artist’s statement: “The thrust is the portrayal of the uneasiness of anxiety-ridden individuals in an ever- increasing artifi cial environment. From the psychoanalytical perspective, both the content and formal elements are a private and meaningful personal language. On a larger scope, the imagery is vague enough to lend itself as a mental launch pad for the exploration of the viewer.”   THE      A European Bistro in Downtown Fayetteville Offering Fine Cuisine, Live DJ, Dancing and Karaoke.  WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM Upon fi rst glance, the work is immediate and stimulating. Without spending a little time studying his technique, it would be easy to overlook Lawson’s complicated groundwork for the story — design. I think his statement gives evidence to his conscious effort to beautifully take advantage of the power of design. “When using color and shape, I seek out an optical tug-of-war to express chaos. Compositional arcs project awkwardly and sharp triangular forms stab violently to represent the momentum of life gone askew,” he explained. “The sharply pointed arc is a form of my personal language. It both stabs and swells as it careens towards the viewer. I attempt in these images to reach out to the viewer and demand attention, as do real moments of anxiety. The evocation of human emotion is my triumph.” I feel quite certain you will be seeing his distinct style in the area and the region. Lawson comes to Fayetteville and Fayetteville Technical Community College as a seasoned artist and educator. After graduating from Saint Leo College in Florida, Lawson completed his Master of Fine Arts with a degree in painting from Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Ga. His professional experience includes a teaching position at Andrew College in Southwest Georgia, curating the Warren Bush Gallery, Professor of Art and curator of the James Earl Carter Gallery at Georgia Southwestern State University. Before moving to Fayetteville, Lawson taught at the American Intercontinental University in Atlanta. It is befi tting Gallery 208 is hosting the reception for DYSTOPIA: An Exhibition of Work by Chuck Lawson as the gallery is best known for exhibiting artists from outside Fayetteville and the region. DYSTOPIA will remain in Gallery 208 for two months, so there will be plenty of time to see the exhibit if you can’t attend the opening reception. Gallery 208’s receptions are open to the public and all are invited. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday during regular business hours. SONI MARTIN, Staff Writer COMMENTS? 484-6200 ext. 222 or Editor@upandcomingweekly.com APRIL 28-MAY 4, 2010 UCW 15

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