JILL BASHAM & HENRY VON GENK III
Land and Sea
From October 5 to 19, Reinert Fine Art in Charleston, South Carolina, will present the impressionistic landscapes of Jill Basham alongside the highly realistic views of Henry Von Genk III. The show will juxtapose the loose expressions and detailed scenes of the artists, allowing collectors to see the varying ways in which the land can be interpreted.
Basham’s artwork for the show, she explains, “has a common thread of atmospheric quality and the inclusion of water. Even with the underwater painting [Rays], it is the ‘atmosphere’ of the water created by the light and how that affects the objects that is important to me. This atmosphere in turn creates a certain mood. I am always pushing to try new things in my work, and not be afraid of failure. I believe this helps me grow as an artist.”
The underwater work, Rays, is part of a new series Basham is exploring based on memories of snorkeling in the Caribbean. She explains, “With Rays, the title leaves some ambiguity as the reference could be the light rays coming from above, or the creatures approaching in the water.”
Another of Basham’s piece is Westward, which is a marshland vista along the Chesapeake. In discussing the painting, Basham says, “I intentionally worked to create a sense of texture and movement using soft and hard edges to allow the viewer’s eye to follow the expansive path of salt marsh to the distant sky.”
Of his pieces for the exhibition, Von Genk says, “The work for this show is representational of the months in the year
of active life; both in the floral and fauna, and how we, as humans, engage in nature through our activities. I am attempting to capture those moments of summertime fun that we all cherish in our memories no matter how old we are.”
His painting It Brings Me Back is a summarization of his life experiences and the inspiration he needs to create. “The title reflects my attempt to draw the client and observers to relive the memories of ‘those days gone by’ and our grasp to relive them once again, if only in our imagination.”
One of his other works, Low Gathering Tide, highlights his love of painting what lies beneath the surface when a high tide pushes back to low tide. “Exposing what is under the water reveals the oyster beds and how the tide flows in and out through the grass to the sea,” he says. “With less water for the fish, the waterfowl have a better chance to catch them and it is a common scene for coastal residents. When I smell the ‘pluff mud’ of low tide, it reminds me of home and my childhood adventures of fishing the back creeks.”
Reinert Fine Art 179 King Street • Charleston, SC 29401 • (843) 694-2445 • www.reinertfineart.com