Titled “Dark Age,” Whiteside’s show will be on display in BC’s Art Gallery on the first floor of Lansdell Hall from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays. The exhibit is open and free to the public. Weekend hours may be obtained by calling the Bluefield College Art Department at 276-326-4558.
Whiteside has exhibited from California to New York as well as in Japan with works created by ink and acrylic paint in a style most influenced by Abstract Expressionism with an emphasis on the metaphysical and emotional realm rather than an optical reality. Using several layers of thin glazes, partially washed away, he creates oppressively dense atmospheric environments with biomorphic, liquid shapes within them.
“My work explores the metaphysical realm of emotionality through a painting and drawing process that employs physical forces,” said Whiteside. “I depict emotional energies such as grief, despair, isolation, and wrath by utilizing physical energies such as gravity, water erosion, and sedimentation.”
Currently an adjunct professor at Radford University, Whiteside earned a bachelor’s degree in fine and performing arts from Christopher Newport University in 2007 and a master’s degree in fine arts in 2011 from Radford University, where he studied under Dr. Halide Salam.
Whiteside’s work has been awarded Best in Show at the Lynchburg Art Club’s 2015 “Water Ways” exhibition, the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art’s “New Waves 2013” exhibition, the Jacksonville Center for the Arts’ “2013 Juried Show,” and at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center’s “2010 Biennial Exhibition.” He was also a recipient of a prestigious 2011-2012 Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship grant.
“I see it as my duty as an artist to render visible these invisible sensations — emotional forces and energies that are unseen, but very real powers in the world,” said Whiteside, “and my creative process acts as a metaphor for the themes of powerlessness that inspire my work.”
For more information about “Dark Age” or other art exhibits at Bluefield College, contact the BC Art Department at 276-326-4558.