The Guilford bell chimed five times from the apex of Founder’s Hall, echoing across the crisp wintry air of the quad, and without intending to, signaled the opening of the new art exhibit: “painting into light” by George Wingate. People trickled into the Hege Library art gallery: art appreciators as well as the hungry students who eyed the luxurious brie cheese in utter anticipation.
The exhibit debuted on Jan. 22 and will stay up until Mar. 4. The curators, Director and Curator of Art Gallery Terry Hammond, and Kelsey McMillan’08, selected 59 pieces for the show, three of which Assistant Professor of Art David Newton, a long-time comrade of Wingate, donated.
Wingate has exhibited extensively in America, but Newton explained that his goal is not to be a commercial artist.
“He creates because he has to,” Newton said. “He can turn out a completed a piece in a day. I’ve seen amazing work come out of his mortal combat with a brush.”
A statement from Wingate hung on the gallery wall reiterated his personal views about struggling.
“The artist has to fight to not be what he/she was yesterday,” said Wingate. “Self-imitation is a road to commercial art, at best, but not to making of artifacts which are the manifestations of the meeting of transitory Time and the person.”
Wingate’s exhibit includes an array of work ranging from landscapes, to realistic commonplace items, to portraits. His most recent work features a series of abstract paintings rooted in the essence of landscape that tend towards non-representational imagery.
“I’m very impressed by the range of work,” said Assistant Professor of Art Kathryn Shields in an e-mail interview. “Each piece seemed like its own little world, or a glimpse into a slice of a moment.”
Both faculty and students responded to Wingate’s unusual yet intriguing selection of subject matter.
“Who would think to paint that?” said Newton, while peering at ‘No Rules (from Rembrandt, at his window).’ “Most people would try to paint the print, not the whole book that the print is in.”
Newton expressed that Wingate’s diverse subject matter as well as his ability to combine technique and imagination make him a stellar example for Guilford art students. “Guilford students are really creative people. If you tell some of them to think outside the box, you quickly find out that there is no box for them,” said Newton. “The trick is for students to refine their technique, so that you as the viewer can trust what you see. George’s work you can trust.”
For students, the impact of Wingate’s work will be more than purely aesthetic. He will teach a master landscape painting class Feb. 26 for Hege Professor of Art Adele Wayman’s painting students, give an artist talk on Feb. 25 in the Hege gallery, and also spend time with the senior thesis students critiquing their work.
“Just having another artist’s voice will be incredibly helpful,” said Susannah Goodman, a senior pottery major who is in the process of doing a thesis. “I already have a sense of what the professors in the department will say about my work, so it will be great to hear a different voice.”
According to Wayman, Wingate’s critiques will not be his only contribution. “It will be valuable for students to get to know his work both formally by visiting the gallery, as well as informally by working with him,” said Wayman.
Beyond just the art students, Hammond highlighted how Wingate’s work expresses a strong spiritual quality that the community can relate to and think about. “I think he has that type of sensibility as an artist,” said junior Mary Pearl Monnes, as a crowd of students buzzed around, the hungry ones carrying heaps of hummus and pita bread. “He sees character in objects that no one would notice, but that he thinks are very important for the viewer to notice-like the tissue box,” referring to the piece “Tissue,” the featured piece on the gallery advertisement.
“He can take something so simple like the Kleenex box,” said Hammond, “and turn it into something monumental.