This exhibition at Charleston’s City Gallery at Waterfront Park presents the first comprehensive survey of Hussey’s career from 1992 to the present day. An installation of more than (how many) art works will examine his progression from the early formal and thematic demands of commercial illustrations, to the more primitive, spontaneous expression of his paintings on canvas and paper. Hussey’s paintings are worlds open to exploration. Forms, color, line, and words emerge, recede, and coalesce in layers of imagery and the various materials he uses and manipulates with skill and energy. His creative process fosters the enigmatic juxtapositions and fragmentation of imagery, including figures, portraits, body parts, animals, snakes, and lizards. As he describes it: “I’m definitely letting coordinated moments of chaos start to talk to each other. I create a dialogue that seems to tell a story, but you’re not sure what. I feel the connection, but it’s not a direct narrative, it’s deeper than that. It’s more a starting point for people to examine, why is this against this? Because to me, that’s what makes the art larger, more important—when it can mean so many things to different people.”
FOR AVAILABLE WORKS, ACCESS HUSSEY’S ARTIST PAGE
SOLD WORKS INCLUDED IN THE EXHIBIT:
Hussey explores various media through interrelated realms of illustration, figure painting, and pure abstraction. The act of painting is as critical as the finished product, as Hussey applies house paint, oil sticks, pen, colored pencil, vintage papers, and words to build layers of meaning, and unexpected variations in composition. Clashing forms and lines, as well as vibrant colors, contrasts, and texture combine in his art to express intense emotions, psychological struggles, human spirit, and tenderness. After graduating from Rhode Island School of Design in 1992, with a focus on photography and illustration, Hussey settled in New York City, where his first job at MTV involved painting images on set during live broadcasts. His early career as an illustrator and art director evolved through design roles at Rolling Stone, New York Times, Esquire, GQ, and Outside Magazine, to name a few. He was regularly published in Print, Communication Arts, and American Illustration, the magazines dedicated to professional achievement in the field. He received a “Top 20” design award for American Illustration in 2000. Hussey’s photographs and paintings have been exhibited nationally in key group and solo exhibitions such as his recent show at Shepard Fairey’s Subliminal Projects Gallery in Los Angeles, and Art Basel Miami. His art has appeared in publications like Architectural Digest and NYARTS magazine, among others. Hussey currently resides in downtown Charleston, SC, where he continues to push his personal limits through various mediums and approaches to art. Established in 2003, the City Gallery at Waterfront Park is owned by the City of Charleston and operated by the City of Charleston Office of Cultural Affairs. The gallery is dedicated to showcasing fine contemporary art by local, regional, and national artists in a spectacular, 4000 square-foot space overlooking the park and Charleston Harbor.
