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B-8 Richmond Times Dispatch, Mon., Oct. 6, 1980 Art By Robert Merritt [[image]] Conway Thompson Jack Wheless (University of Richmond) Conway Thompson has evoked the spirit of ghosts in the Marsh Gallery with her "Agrarian Series," one of the most personal and emotional exhibitions to hit Richmond in a long time. Boarding over Gallery windows with weathered barn lumber and establishing a dramatic environment with lighting and the rich aroma from a dozen bales of hay, Ms. Conway has created a religious experience. Her assemblages worship nature and the simple way of life. Combining well-used farm implements and objects from nature with bits of sculpted wood and stone, Ms. Conway's theme is immediate- she views "the veneer of civilization" with skepticism, paying a personal, poetic tribute to the purity of nature and America's rural past. HER STATEMENTS ARE highly personal, yet universal. An altar of hay bales is emotional in its simplicity; a pile of slave stones removed from the plowed fields of Buckingham County becomes a sculpture of secret memories; and a dramatic Civil War eulogy for a young cousin who died at Antietam is rich in its humanity. Other pieces pay tribute to a maiden aunt, to memories of the farm near Bear Island, to old friends, to the simple and caring love of a shepherd, to the barn and the bull and the hunted deer. Using plows and stacks of wood, hay and the simple, useful forms of the farm, the show is art on a different level. The assemblages are sculpture at its highest form, personal and emotional and full of meaning. Jack Wheless also has an unique approach to art, but it is an approach of technique rather than heart. Working with large canvasses, the Flat Rock artist creates surreal images in pencil, covering the canvas with the tonal grays of graphite. THE ACHIEVEMENT in detail and contour is fascinating, particularly in a larger-than-life rendition of the screen door of an old country store, a small girl and the bubblelike spheres that are a recurring theme in the work. Another larger-than-life drawing of a football game captures the essence of motion and contact, while a surreal drawing of a small shed and two smaller pieces capture great textural and tonal differences. Two additional large works, both in caricature form, are less effective. Both shows will remain on view through Oct. 30 in the Modlin Fine Arts Building. 'Arts Around the Lake' (University of Richmond) The annual "Arts Around the Lake" became "Arts Around Robins Center" yesterday as the sponsoring Westhampton College Alumni was scared inside by overcast skies. WITH SOME 60 artists and craftsmen participating, there are few surprises in selling shows of this type. The range is always wide, from the established professionals to the weekend hobbyist, all drawn by the crowd of more than 1,000 and some 20 purchase prizes. Amid the assembly line-like watercolors and signs offering to paint your portrait, your pet or your house, perhaps the most ambitious showing was by David Cochran, the young Richmond artist who has expanded and developed his expressive European portraits. Otherwise, the displays were very traditional and very commercial, intended as a pleasant Sunday afternoon outing where one might pick up the perfect piece for over the sofa.
