Things unseen at the Gibbes and beyond

On Friday, the Gibbes will unveil two new exhibitions: "Face Lift" and "The Evidence of Things Unseen."

Portraiture is one of the oldest genres of painting and the Gibbes is having a bit of fun with the various juxtapositions they are putting together with their second "Face Lift" exhibition.

From the funny to the funky, it should be an interesting show.

Visitors also can expect to see works by Edwin Harleston, Benjamin Long, Thomas Sully, Leo Twiggs, William Aiken Walker, and Mary Whyte.

The other exhibition, "The Evidence of Things Unseen," features recent works by emerging artist Stacy Lynn Waddell in her first solo museum exhibition.

Waddell's works are contemporary in nature but historic in subject matter.

The show will include paintings, works on paper, installations and projections, most of which were created using her techniques of burning, singeing and branding paper and fabric.

For more info, call 722-2706 or visit www.gibbesmuseum.org.

Cronin is back

New York artist Ryan Cronin returns to Charleston for his solo show at SCOOP studios, opening 5-8 p.m. Friday.

After an extensive summer art tour, this is his last summer stop with his show coinciding with the "Gallery Row's" First Fridays on Broad.

This time around, Cronin has developed a new sculptural element to his artwork, creating three-foot-tall "Peeps" bunnies painted bright yellow.

There's even a painting called "This One Goes Out to All of My Peeps" with the "Peeps" repeated, like an Andy Warhol piece.

Another painting was inspired by his last trip to Charleston, titled "On the Corner of Queen Street," that portrays a street character who he ran into one evening.

Cronin will be in attendance at the opening reception Friday and I'm sure he's hoping his "peeps" will stop by SCOOP studios, 57 1/2 Broad Street.

Call 577-3292 or visit www.scoopcontemporary.com for a sneak "peep."

Composition and decomposition

Artists Tate Nation and Sandy Logan have been paired to form the exhibit "Composition and Decomposition" on display at the Art Institute of Charleston's gallery.

While Nation is known for his colorful streetscapes of the Lowcountry and stylized depictions of Caribbean tropical and aquatic scenes, this show features only abstract works.

The artist has been painting abstracts for the past three decades and says he is excited to finally have a show of just those works.

While some of these may appear spontaneous, Nation says he approaches most paintings with a deliberate, calculated composition in mind.

What Logan's subjects have in common are disposability and neglect.

He most frequently photographs abstractions of objects that has been discarded. He is clearly the "Decomposition" part of the exhibit. The exhibit showcases 19 original abstract acrylic paintings by Nation and more than three dozen photos by Logan.

It will be on display until Sept. 18 at the Art Institute's gallery, inside the school on Market Street. For more information, call 568-9911.

Timothy Pakron

Timothy Pakron recently graduated from the College of Charleston concentrating in black-and-white photography and oil painting.

His work has been part of the big contemporary Charleston 2010 show at the City Gallery at Waterfront Park in the spring and at Modern on King Street.

Recent works are focused on nonrepresentational and what he terms "nonvanity portraits" using both photography and paintings independently.

With his photos, he uses the familiarity of the face as a template, and then handpaints the developer in the darkroom, intentionally revealing only certain parts of the negative. This creates a one-of-a-kind silver gelatin print.

Pakron has done several large portraits using oil paints.

This new collection will be on view at the Real Estate Studio, 214 King St., for a few more weeks.

For more information, call 722-5618 or visit www.timothypakron.com or www.dunesproperties.com.