Through March 1st: Recent Works by Abigail McLaurin at Coker College

An art exhibition of Abigail McLaurin’s “Recent Works” will open with a reception from 7 to 8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 4, in the Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery.

“Describing Abby McLaurin’s work as mixed media is a start, but only just,” said gallery director and assistant professor of art Larry Merriman. “Her drawings of people and interiors are aggressively rendered with thick, colorful layers of pastel, charcoal, paint stick and oil paint.

“While some artists strive for photographic accuracy, McLaurin’s approach is often described as ‘aggressive’ or ‘muscular’ and one that breathes life into energetic forms fashioned from raw pigment and powerful but refined marks. Although she sometimes draws from life, choosing friends as models, she often works from a diverse mix of photographs that portray emotional extremes, on the one hand, or emotionally flat family snapshots, on the other. In both cases she strives for emotional complexity and psychological depth,” Merriman added.

“It can be a struggle to find your feet after college, especially pursuing art,” said McLaurin. “You have to remind yourself not to quit, to take what you've learned and to utilize it to push your career—to continue learning, researching and connecting with people. The things that I have learned in school from biology and sociology to drawing and art history are all interwoven; they are subjects I refer back to in moving forward in my art and career."

McLaurin received her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Coker College in 2009. She went on to work with Casa Manana Theatre as a scenic artist and designer for such performances as “The Jungle Book,” “Sweeney Todd” and “Sound of Music.” She resides in Beaumont, Texas, where she maintains a studio.

McLaurin’s art has been exhibited in more than a dozen galleries including Columbia Art Museum in Columbia, S.C., Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, Craighead Green Gallery in Dallas, Bikram Studio at Fort Worth, Texas, and Art Studios in Beaumont.

The reception for McLaurin’s exhibit is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. The exhibition will continue through March 1.

The Cecelia Coker Bell Gallery is located in the Gladys C. Fort Art Building on the Coker College campus. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, while classes are in session. For more information, contact Merriman at 843-383-8156 or lmerriman@coker.edu.

Coker College upholds and defends the intellectual and artistic freedom of its faculty and students as they study and create art through which they explore the full spectrum of human experience. The college considers such pursuits central to the spirit of inquiry and thoughtful discussion, which are at the heart of a liberal arts education.