Mid-spring, and it must be festival season in Upstate South Carolina. This weekend was Artisphere in Greenville. Usually I have a performance associated with the festival, but this time I’m off the hook. Our Chorale performance is NEXT weekend.
Laura and I decided to get an early start. The morning was cool, and the weather was nearly perfect. We wandered among the booths and looked at the art offerings. I remember commenting about the photography displays at Art in the Park last fall. Some of them looked like shots I could have taken. That wasn’t the case this time. The photography displays were excellent, as were most of the artist booths. When Laura starts semi-seriously looking at a $12,000 piece of art, you know it must be great (and no, we didn’t buy it.)
The two main attractions this year were Brian Olson’s "Art in Motion" and the Gruppo Storico Flag Wavers from Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy. The latter were featured in the movie "Under the Tuscan Sun." Olson has been featured in every Artisphere so far, and seems to be a fixture at the festival. This year we watched him paint a picture of Billie Holiday. We were only able to catch bits of the Flag Wavers’ performance.
Located around the festival were live human statues. The one on main street was the most impressive. If someone put a donation into his bucket, he would lean down in a robot-like motion and hand the donor a piece of candy.
We had lunch at Overlook Grill, then wandered through the rest of the displays. By that time both the crowds and heat were increasing, and it was time to leave.
I wished to inform your viewers that the artist street painting (pictured in image)at the Artisphere 2007 is professional street painter Rod Tryon, from Long Island (New York area).
Rod is at work on a re-creation of a detail from the ‘Creation of Adam’ from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo.
Rod is well known for his 3-D street paintings, some with the anamorphic effect allowing the possibility of interactivity with the viewers and the art itself. Rod Tryon creates such fine 3-D street paintings in the USA and abroad on a regular basis.
Anthony,
Thanks for the additional information!