Graduate Student’s Work Featured at Floyd Library Gallery
Works by Radford University graduate art student Shaun C. Whiteside have been chosen for display in the art gallery at the Jessie Peterman Memorial Library in Floyd.
The library’s art gallery chooses artists from the region to showcase their talents and abilities. The gallery chose from Whiteside’s extensive portfolio for an exhibition to open this month.
Whiteside, who works in acrylics, said his style has been greatly influenced by Abstract Expressionism. "I tend to be a minimalist, preferring subtleties over excessive detail or symbolism," he said.
Shaun C. Whiteside in his studio.
He uses several layers of thin glazes, partially washed away, to create a dense, colorful atmospheric environment that encompasses liquid shapes. "I use line, shape and color to convey both passionately energetic, as well as bleakly stagnant, conscious states," he said.
Whiteside is pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree at Radford after graduating magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts from Christopher Newport University. He was awarded Best in Show at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center's 2010 Biennial Exhibition and received a 2011-12 fellowship from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. He also received the Graduate Award of Excellence for “Cavity,” acrylic on canvas, at Radford’s 2010-11 juried art show.
The Floyd library’s art exhibit coordinators, Gretchen and David St. Lawrence, praised Whiteside’s work and remarked on its magnetism.
“We are intrigued by his ability to portray the abstract with such emotion and three-dimensional composition,” Gretchen St. Lawrence said. “We were immediately drawn to his pieces as very strong depiction of emotion.”
Additional pieces from Whiteside’s collection are in several private collections across Virginia. He can be contacted at scwhiteside@ymail.com, and his works and upcoming exhibits are posted on his Facebook page.
The Jessie Peterman Memorial Library is at 321 West Main Street in Floyd. Library hours are Monday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information about the library, call (540) 745-2947.