“Folklore” is a creative process to express the past through various mediums.  Exhibiting for the first time together, the artists translate personal stories, songs, family memories, and religious beliefs into progressive 2d and 3d art forms. Pakron and Hollingsworth attempt to explore interrelationships of family and culture, while also discovering their personal journey as artists.

The artists mine an extraordinary range of possibilities as the work is based on their personal family experiences, oral tales, and religious beliefs.  Hollingsworth’s multi-media works of frenetic pencil lines, spray paint and stencils focus on the “folklore” of religious iconography. Small colorful and textured works on paper in shadow boxes become “relics” that linearly mount the wall with as much precision-and varied interpretation- as the Stations of the Cross.  Pakron’s recent works were created during his journey home to Mississippi summer 2010. The black and white photos focus on nonrepresentational, non-vanity portraits of close friends and family members who tell the “folklore” of his South.  Using the familiarity of the face as a template, his process involves hand painting the developer in the darkroom intentionally revealing certain parts of the negative. From abstract panels to black and white photography, Hollingsworth and Pakron work to discover the basis of our common humanity, the imperatives of our human existence that puts folklore study at the very center of humanistic study.

Rebekah Jacob responds:  “These two artists are significant in spearheading the contemporary art movement in Charleston.  At 169 King St, a white cube will be translated into a dynamic space.  The monumental installation will evocate that young, innovative talent is working here.  We are at a critical point for moving the Charleston art scene into a more progressive phase , and I am excited to have both artists on board to launch our fall program.”

PAKRON: A Gulfport, Mississippi native and recent graduate of the College of Charleston, Timothy Pakron’s concentrated disciplines are photography and painting, sometimes combing the two. His recent oeuvre focuses on nonrepresentational, non-vanity portraits. Some portraits are about abstracting the face while others have religious narratives.  Using the familiarity of the face as a template, his process involves hand painting the developer in the darkroom intentionally revealing certain parts of the negative.

HOLLINGSWORTH:  Benjamin Hollingsworth was born in Concord, NC, and raised in Charleston.  An instinctive, self-taught, multi-media artist, he has pursued a career in New York City, as well as his hometown of Charleston, SC.  In May 2009, Hollingsworth installed A Vessell, a multi-media exhibition curated by Elizabeth Stehling.  Renowned muralist Edward Kippers calls Hollingsworth, “an artist of rare thoughtful power who can stir the emotions and delight in the eyes.”