INFOCUS: SELENA BEAUDRY AND SARAH HELSER
Curated by Hidell Brooks Gallery of Charlotte, NC
For over 18 years, Katharine Hidell Thomas and Rebecca Brooks have filled their gallery with beautiful, thought-provoking contemporary artwork. Hidell Brooks Gallery promotes the work of several regional, North Carolina artists, and also encourages a strong community of art collectors. That’s why we jumped at the chance to collaborate with Hidell Brooks Gallery on this exhibition in our InFocus Gallery. GreenHill’s mission is to support the arts of NC, so it was a natural next step to invite an influential NC gallery to help curate the space.
GreenHill and Hidell Brooks Gallery are pleased to present new work by Selena Beaudry and Sarah Helser. The work is on view at GreenHill in the InFocus Gallery from February 2 – April 5, 2018. This show is free to view and open to the public. All artworks are available for purchase.
Read more about Hidell Brooks Gallery, and see artwork by Selena Beaudry and Sarah Helser, below:
What was your vision for Hidell Brooks Gallery when you first opened? Over the years, in what ways has your initial vision been met, exceeded, or changed?
When we first opened the gallery in 1998 our goal was to exhibit works of art that had never or rarely been exhibited in the Southeast. We wanted to expose Charlotte to artists that otherwise would not exhibit here. We were seeing all these incredible artists out there and asking, why are they not shown in the South?
When the recession hit in 2007, we watched galleries closing left and right. We had to make decisions about how to adapt in the changing climate. We decided to incorporate in our stable southern artists who now, because of the gallery closings, were without galleries. By making this change (which was an obvious one, but deferred from our original plan) we now have an incredible stable of artists from all over.
Have you ever made a risky or scary decision in your business? How did it turn out?
Obviously opening an art gallery is a risky and scary decision. We went in with whole hearts and absolutely love art. A partnership is not an easy relationship and we have weathered the ups and downs in the art market. We are best friends and business partners, which is rare.
What advice do you have for someone who is beginning to build an art collection?
Do not doubt or question art you are drawn too. Do not be afraid to buy a big painting. Your collection will grow with you and your taste will always change. Learn to trust your instincts.
About Selena Beaudry:
Selena Beaudry shows pieces from three bodies of work: PILES™, collages (cutout), and paintings. Beaudry begins many of her pieces by cutting up drawings and rearranging them into new compositions. “Cutting up my work led to a rediscovery of my visual language. It brought up questions in my studio practice. What is a mark and what can I do with it? How can I push these marks in new and different directions?” Beaudry talks about her work with synesthetic language: her collages scream, babble, and screech. “The collages (cutout) are more lyrical. They string together and flutter and dance across the page. Some are tougher, zigging and zagging across the page bumping and bouncing into one another. The paintings begin by tracing parts of the collages (cutout), allowing me to indulge in my love of paint. They combine the dance with the babbles and the screams.”
Selena Beaudry lives and works in London. She received her MFA from the Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA, in 2001. Since then, she has shown her work nationally in places such as Schulman Projects, Baltimore, MD; Leclerc Contemporary, Norwalk, CT; and North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, NC. She has also completed a residency at the Vermont Studio Center in Johnston, VT. She’s been involved in the arts of North Carolina for many years, and has guest curated exhibitions at both the Mint Museum, Charlotte, NC; and Hart Witzen, Charlotte, NC.
About Sarah Helser:
Sarah Helser’s work is meant to express the beauty of the world around her, weaving together both realistic and abstract forms. “Each time I create a painting it is in the hope to reshape the familiar into something numinous and magical,” she explains. Helser paints weightless scenes of butterflies, chandeliers, and bones – glittering with gold leaf and drenched in ethereal, foggy light. “Even the most ordinary subject can be made extraordinary if we reshape it through the whimsy of imagination. Using a variety of mediums, these pieces are formed and reformed until they come into their own organic completion.”
Helser was born in High Point, NC. She spent her formative years on a farm where she enjoyed the beauty and solitude of nature. Her childhood and young adulthood has a major influence on her creativity as an artist. Sarah studied fine arts at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, where she refined her interests by focusing on the figure and the use of alternative mediums.
Hidell Brooks Gallery is located at the Southend Steelyard in the historical Southend district of Charlotte, North Carolina. Hidell Brooks Gallery specializes in the work of well-established and solidly-emerging artists working in a contemporary narrative and figurative vein. The gallery rotates solo and group exhibitions every six to eight weeks. For more information about Hidell Brooks Gallery visit http://www.hidellbrooks.com/
InFocus Gallery is an art space designed to bring together art collectors with artists that produce exceptionally collectible works, rotating solo and themed group exhibitions four times a year. InFocus Gallery aims to fulfill GreenHill’s mission to support North Carolina artists by encouraging a thriving local NC art market. We invite individuals and corporations, whether first-time art buyers or seasoned collectors, to work with the GreenHill team to find the perfect piece for your space, taste, and budget – and get to know the artists in your own back yard.
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