Aldwyth: work v. / work n.

Halsey Institute opens new gallery space

The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art is finally getting a chance to flex its muscles and spread its peacock feathers - a day a long time coming! Having had a small, hard to find space in the College of Charleston's art building for years, the Institute has now moved to a much more prominent and appropriate location in the new Marion and Wayland H. Cato Jr. Center for the Arts on the corner of Saint Phillips and Calhoun Streets. This new space allows for much better exposure for the rest of the city to experience the truly impressive installations (dare I say, the best in Charleston) that are continuously put on by the Halsey.

The grand opening of the Halsey will be paired with a stunning exhibit, "Aldwyth: work v. / work n. -- Collage and Assemblage 1991- 2009" - truly a culmination of a life's work for the artist simply known as Aldwyth.

The exhibition begins will begin in conjunction with the reception this Friday from 6-9 p.m. and will run through the beginning of January.

At 7:00 p.m. on Friday, Aldwyth, and curator, Mark Sloan, will lead interested guests on an exhibition walk-through. The first public viewing of the Halsey Institute's new space will continue with a celebratory rendition of Hallelujah Chorus performed by members of the Taylor Festival Choir, College of Charleston's professional choir in residence, as well as a dance performance by Afro-Latino dance troupe, Buen Aché. The exhibition opening is the first of many celebratory events for the School of the Arts' 20th anniversary. All events are free with the public encouraged to attend.

This is the first major retrospective of the collage and assemblage artist Aldwyth.

Now in her 70s, she lives and works in an octagonal house on the edge of a salt marsh on one of South Carolina's sea islands explains Rebecca Silberman of the Halsey. Curator Mark Sloan states, "Despite her geographic isolation, Aldwyth devours information and images available to her from a variety of sources 3/4libraries, bookstores, the internet, art magazines. She is a voracious reader and inveterate collector of detritus. All of the objects and images that enter her purview become fair game as the raw material from which her works are made."

The exhibition subtitle, "work v. / work n.," is to be read "work verb, work noun" in reference to the appearance of the word's alternate definitions in the pieces "About Work and Corpus." This focus is indicative of the artist's desire for her art to be appreciated both as an object and a representation of the effort required to create such things. "Work is what all art has in common," Aldwyth says.

This exhibition, organized by the Halsey Institute, premiered at the Ackland Art Museum at UNC Chapel Hill (May 31 - Sept 13, 2009) and will later travel to the Telfair Museum of Art in Savannah, GA (February 10 - May 17, 2010), and the University of Richmond Museum (August 18 - October 9, 2011).

If you go

Visit the new Halsey at 161 Calhoun St. The grand opening, featuring Aldwyth's exhibit, is from 6-9 p.m. Friday. Parking is available in the St. Philip and George Street garages. Gallery hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Saturday, or by appointment. Contact the Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art at 953-5680 or visit www.halsey.cofc.edu.