MIDDLEBURG, VA – March 20, 2013 – Spring has sprung, and gloriously! To celebrate, Barrel Oak Winery’s Art Gallery & Tasting Room in the heart of downtown Middleburg will host a joint exhibit featuring New York artists Charlie Accola and Scotland Davis, entitled The Enchanted Meadow.
On view from April 20–June 29, The Enchanted Meadow unite
Accola, whose plaster and bronze sculptures often draw inspiration from heroic and classical forms, as well as the movement of modern expressionism, provides the exhibit’s three-dimensional life, while Davis, in his detailed botanic portraits of objects of nature provides, in no less reality, the two dimensional.
“Visitors will have an opportunity to escape into the calm, joy, and contemplation that spring and the meadow evoke,” says Accola. “We only hope to surprise the viewer with a little pinch of the unexpected,” adds Davis.
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Charlie Accola: Frieze |
Charlie Accola: Form |
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Scotland Davis: Butterfly & Thistle |
Scotland Davis: Snail |
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Charlie Accola was born in Dubuque, Iowa and made his home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He received his undergraduate degree from Ansgar University, Kristiansand, Norway and continued his education receiving a graduate degree from Ansgar Theological Seminary. His artistic abilities were inherent from an early age. As an accomplished dancer, singer and actor, he went on to perform on national and international stages.
Moving to New York in 2011, Charlie studied at the prestigious Art Students League in New York City where he attended traditional life classes under the direction of Barney Hodes. In addition he studied molding and casting techniques, casting many of his own creations.
“My sculpture has many influences; my dance background, foremost. Then most definitely, my work in pastoral care and psychology have clearly infused my work with an expressionistic element.” Artistic inspirations closest to his heart are the works of Rodin, Michelangelo, Brancusi, and Bourdelle. Extensive trips abroad to Italy, Israel, Scandinavia, among many other countries, have colored his work and passion for sculpture.
The subject of his work is the human figure. “I have always been a compulsive people watcher. And the power of observation tells me that one’s body language speaks more than a thousand words.” Through the visual use of tension and release, his works convey both the power of movement and the simplicity of quiet repose.
Charlie’s works have shown at DNA Gallery in New York City and currently can be seen at Bermingham & Co. Designer Showroom on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Born in Belhaven, North Carolina, Scotland Davis lived with his family at his grandparents’ farm near the Outer Banks until age four when the family moved to New York. It was his grandmother who placed him on the front porch bench with a tin of pencils and unlined paper, told him to draw, and to keep out of trouble. Scotland turned that energy upon the natural world beyond the screen door.
Years later an artistic achievement came purely by accident when a junior high school teacher entered what Scotland believed was a homework assignment into the New York City-wide “Leonardo da Vinci” competition. The piece showing an Italian gothic cathedral won first place...and found a home in the borough president’s office for eight years.
To this day, however, the out-of-doors remains inspiration for Scotland. Botanicals and objects of nature materialize fully formed from the empty page. His highly representational works engage the viewer visually and emotionally, capturing in a moment the object’s simplicity and supreme beauty. Subjects, some in shadow, others deified in light, have a sense of the everyday made numinous.
Here are portraits drawn with pencil leads as fine as hair that make one stare as if recognizing a forgotten friend. In Scotland’s works meticulous detail is not purely for detail’s sake. An object’s individuality is revealed, along with an almost sculptural solidity.
It is this finely-tuned aesthetic that sets him apart. This talent has not gone unnoticed. His sketches started being collected the moment they were shown to a select group of individuals. The first was by international fashion designer Christian Lacroix, who said of Scotland’s art, “This is indeed very original work whose interest lies in the details.”
Scotland’s first commissioned piece, also by a noted fashion designer, was for the American Ralph Rucci. He said, describing Scotland’s art to a colleague, “His work is marvelous! I can see his soul coming out in it. It reminds me of Albrecht Durer.” Rucci was describing Scotland’s art to interior designer and icon of luxury and Southern warmth, Charlotte Moss, who herself then commissioned sketches.
Scotland’s works are held by a select group of American and European collectors.
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