CHARLESTON 'S TOP ART GALLERIES INVITE SPOLETO ATTENDEES TO EXPLORE THE VISUAL SIDE OF THE CITY'S ART WORLD

Charleston , S.C.
May 2005

Galleries of the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association will join the City of Charleston in welcoming art aficionados from across the nation with special exhibitions and events in conjunction with the 2005 Spoleto Festival USA.

In celebration of the festival, Ann Long Fine Art, located at 12 State Street , will present Da Firenze: Contemporary Artists Pursuing Truth and Beauty in the Realist Tradition ¸ featuring works from Florence , Italy , and of artists who have studied there. The exhibition will open on Thursday, May 26, at 6 p.m. and runs through June 12 . Ann Long Fine Art is inspired by the remarkable dedication of realist artists, especially, the work of American expatriates who have lived, studied and trained in Florence , Italy . The gallery focuses on museum quality, contemporary realist art or Classical Realism - still-life, figurative work, landscape and sculpture. The works represented span two generations of contemporary artists trained in the most prestigious ateliers in Florence , Italy , to use the classical realist techniques of European Old Masters. For more information, please contact Ann Long Fine Art at 843.577.0447, or visit www.annlongfineart.com .

Carolina Galleries, located at 188 King Street , will present Albert Handell and Anita Louise West - Light & Landscape , featuring pastels by Albert Handell and oils by Anita Louise West. The work includes plein air work from the surrounding sea islands of Charleston and Beaufort, as well as studio work from various locations in South Carolina . The exhibition will be on view from May 20 through June 10. In addition to being Charleston 's oldest gallery specializing in the art of the Charleston Renaissance, Carolina Galleries also features contemporary paintings celebrating the region's continuing aesthetic evolution.  For more information, please contact Carolina Galleries at 843.723.2266, or visit www.carolinagalleries.com .

The Charleston Renaissance Gallery, located at 103 Church Street , will present Tarleton Blackwell's Southern Campaign: Swine Production Project. The show will open on Saturday, May 21, with a gallery talk by the artist at 2 p.m. The exhibit runs through June 20. For more than 20 years, Blackwell, a South Carolina native, has created lively, antic scenes of American Southern life, weaving images of rural life with those urban, fairy tales with reality, and the high brow with pop culture. This exhibition of 20 oil and mixed-media paintings examines some of the varied sources of Blackwell's art, blending disparate imagery gleaned from his family raising hogs in their yard with court paintings from the 17 th century Spanish master Diego Velazquez and deeply iconic symbols taken straight from the United States dollar bill. The Charleston Renaissance Gallery is the nation's only gallery specializing in fine art of the American South. This distinctive gallery offers 19 th and 20 th century masterworks, including oils, works on paper and sculptures, the art of the Charleston Renaissance Movement, and select works from the estate of Lowcountry artist, Elizabeth O'Neill Verner. For more information, please contact the Charleston Renaissance Gallery at 843.723.0025, or visit www.fineartsouth.com .

Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery in association with Timothy Yarger Fine Art of Beverly Hills, California, presents THE most groundbreaking show to hit Charleston, adding a new dimension to Charleston's art world- the distinguished exhibition, Museum Collected 20 th Century Masters: Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró, and Pierre Auguste Renoir , featuring original lithographs, drawings and etchings of the founding fathers of Modern Art. This exhibition runs through July 9, with all works available for acquisition . Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery is located at 91 Broad Street , between King and Meeting Streets. As the preeminent representative of contemporary American, European and Russian fine art in Charleston , the gallery currently features exquisite original oil paintings of both impressionist and realist styles grounded in artistic traditions, as well as sculpture, and photography on its three floors of exhibition space. For more information, please contact Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery at 843.722.3660, or visit www.ellarichardson.com .

All member galleries will be opened during regular business hours throughout the festival. For more information, please visit www.cfada.com .

Founded in 1999, the Charleston Fine Art Dealers' Association consists of the city's most prominent galleries. The association promotes Charleston as a fine art destination for talented artists, passionate art enthusiasts and avid collectors.

Ann Long Fine Art · Carolina Galleries · Charleston Renaissance Gallery · Coleman Fine Art · Ella Walton Richardson Fine Art Gallery · Horton Hayes Fine Art · John Carroll Doyle Art Gallery · Margaret Petterson Gallery · Martin Gallery · The Sylvan Gallery · Smith-Killian Fine Art · Wells Gallery