“Warped” Exhibit to Open in the Spartanburg Artist’s Guild Gallery

Artist Annette Giaco will present her second solo exhibition in the Artists’ Guild Gallery through November 28th.

She describes “Warped” as a show of distorted, sometimes abstract, representations of the human form based on her collection of old photos.

The opening reception will take place during Artwalk on Nov. 20, 6-9 p.m., and is free and open to the public. The exhibit can be seen at no charge Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and on Sundays, 1-5 p.m.

After moving to the Spartanburg area from Virginia six years ago, Giaco returned to her artist roots fulltime, concentrating much of her energy on landscapes and the occasional portrait. “I love oil paint and canvas, but felt drawn back to my art school days and the simplicity of rendering the human form using graphite, pen and ink, and ink washes.
“It started with old family photos and some of the fascinating stories behind all of those stoic expressions. My mother and father loved to tell those stories. From there, I began combing the antique stores, collecting photos of unknown people. Although not all of the photos I chose were sad or scary looking, I was drawn to those that looked disconnected, overburdened, or arrogant. To me, most of them looked a little sad, so I picked up a pencil and started sketching, distorting them or warping them, based on the look in their eyes or their rigid facial expressions. My imagination took off and I started applying stories of my own based on the period costumes, crazy hair or military trappings. Some of the stories are sad, some are happy, most are complete fiction but they guided the direction of each drawing.”

“I read somewhere that disfigured drawings of the human form are often interpreted as an artist’s individual expression of frustration, anger or fear,” Giaco said. “I don’t see these pieces in that way. For me, it was just a natural inclination to render the form based on what I read in their eyes or the notes scribbled on the back of some photos. They ultimately became tributes or shrines to forgotten souls, my memorials to them. But they also became a calming retreat for me because of the recent illness and death of my mother.”

Using mixed media, the images were drawn or painted on clay-coated boards. Annette used a variety of tools, including sandpaper, printmaking tools and wire brushes used to clean electronics, scraping the media from the surface in order to create the “drawing,” sometimes incorporating text as background texture. “After doing the initial sketch, these tools became my pencils and pens, distorting the image a little more. I scraped away and then sometimes rebuilt on top of that with ink or acrylic washes, moving further from the original toward an abstract version; all the while referencing the ongoing narrative in my head,” Giaco said.

While she hopes that the viewer will not take the “meaning” of these images too seriously, she does acknowledge that they may not be for everyone. “My grandchildren love them. One of the girls refers to them as ‘ghosts.’ Other members of the family either love or hate them. Recently, a writer with The Boston Globe visited my home on a completely unrelated story, wandered into my studio and was drawn to two of the pieces I was working on. He was interested in my interpretation of the original photos and my rendering technique. He purchased them on the spot. It made me feel like I accomplished my intention.”

Giaco said she used her imagination based on what the camera captured and sees each one as a fun, maybe irreverent way of honoring some old ghosts. She went on to say that a friend suggested that maybe she empathized with the individuals in those photos, connecting with their personal struggles. “I’d like to think that’s true. Technology and social mores change, but people haven’t changed much. We still struggle and set goals, we work hard; and we all have stories to tell. I’d like to think of this show as an affirmation of the spiritual connection we all have as human beings in our own life narratives.”

Annette dedicates this show to the memory of her parents, Vincent and Betty Giaco.