![[Title Artwork]](items/Saint Vennie's Kwik Frozen Grits.jpg "Saint Vennie's Kwik Frozen Grits - © Blue Sky 2006")
Welcome to the Gallery
South Carolina artist Blue Sky is best known for his 50' x 75' mural 'Tunnelvision,' on the AgFirst Farm Credit Bank in the center of downtown Columbia. A professional artist for 45 years, Blue Sky has made a name for himself through his instantly recognizable romantic-realist style, his bold thematic material, and his innovative, often perplexing, public murals and sculpture.
The Blue Sky Gallery, located on Saluda Avenue in the historic Five Points area of Columbia, has displayed his work exclusively since 1981.
Blue Sky and his wife Lynn currently reside back and forth between his Columbia and Los Angeles studios. His work is displayed on both coasts.
News
- Revisiting an Important Theme
Posted by Lynn Sky on January 24, 2009
"Saint Vennie's is without a doubt, the most important painting Blue Sky has created in the past decade. Hearkening to his earlier career, it follows in his ongoing theme of urban 'interstate landscapes'. It is a theme that generated respect from directors and curators of the Metropolitan, Guggenheim, Smithsonian, & Boston Museums and Art in America. Several decades ago, the Mississippi Museum purchased one of these trucks for their permanent collection. Since then, their painting, "Air Brakes" has been the most borrowed and loaned painting in Sky's oeuvre.
The importance of this work is understood in the revisiting of an important original theme while emphasizing the progression of the more vibrant coloration of his later paintings. It is a time-consuming process, this development of these assemblages, the reworking of the theme, and the construction aligned with the deconstruction required in this work. Note the broken paintbrushes doubling as handles, the ropes for bars, the whimsical mudflaps over the tires, the scrawled "passin' side & sui'side" above the taillights, and the working trap door which noisily startles the onlooker if he disobeys the rule written upon it that says "Do Not Open". As a Post-War painter who eschewed the Abstract movement and continued in his path of Realism, Blue Sky has carved his own path in history.
Saint Vennie is not an official saint. She's simply been sainted by Sky in his adorning of her head with gold leaf in the renaissance tradition. In the real-life Vennie's devotion to recording oral histories of African-Americans throughout the south, originating and documenting the oral histories of the participants in the Brown vs the Board of Education, and publishing photographic histories of her southern culture, she has earned her halo.
In "Saint Venni'es Kwik Frozen Grits", Blue Sky was influenced by and inspired by not only the often seen urban and interstate landscape he encounters, and his many travels, but also from his appreciation of African art, the place from which, the paleoanthropologists tell us, we all began. - Happy Holidays!
Posted by Lynn Sky on December 20, 2008
"It feels like Magic in the Air" (as songwriter Kem Welch would say!)
Check the gallery for our extended holiday hours for great gifts!
We have investment quality original sketches and paintings by Blue Sky, and jewelry by Lynn Sky, Kelly Wenner, Ayala Bar, & Elaine Coyne to name a few, plus art objects from around the world.
Happy Holidays to all!
Recent news:
“Tunnelvision” will be published soon in Amsterdam by the Dutch publishing House “De Harmonie” in one of their publications on trompe l’oeil, “Het bedrogen oog”.
And, the Blue Sky mural “Night Train” is to be featured in the new children’s magazine, “Super Magazine”, publised by The Rowland Reading Foundation here in the US.
So, maybe Blue Sky is on his way to reaching his life long quest to become "the best artist in the world". Early in his career he sometimes added WGA after his signature, so in case anyone is wondering what that might mean -- you guessed it -"world's greatest artist".
- Five Points Festivus
Posted by Lynn Sky on December 1, 2008
You're invited to the fun of the Five Points Festivus!
Join us Friday December 5th from 7-9pm for a little wine, a little shopping and some strolling around the village.
Our new Five Points Holiday Parade will proceed at 6pm. The tree lighting and festive choir begin at 7:30pm.
Special events and promotions will take place all weekend throughout Five Points.
Come and see Blue Sky's new paintings of Columbia! The gallery has a great selection of Sky's ORIGINAL & ONE OF A KIND sketches - wonderful and lasting gifts for all!
Hope to see you there! - "Seven Moons over Edisto" and other new work
Posted by Lynn Sky on October 17, 2008
"Painter of Noir" is an emblematic way of describing Blue Sky and the basic theme of most of his work. The ironic dichotomy of this provocation and his name is not entirely lost on his audience. Some have suggested "Dark Sky" or "Moody Sky" perhaps would have suited him best. Looking back on the year 1974 when he legally changed his name, from Warren Edward Johnson, he sometimes jokes that he really should have considered "Rock Solid" instead.
Continuing in this theme is his newest show, "Seven Moons over Edisto" now on view at the Blue Sky Gallery in Five Points. Several of the new works are paintings of Botany Bay, a 4300 acre nature preserve in the Ace Basin region newly opened to the public and generously gifted to the state by a thoughtful donor.
"Full Moon over Botany Bay Plantation Road" presents an inviting subject of a road opening up before you, encouraging the viewer to explore the serenity of the moss laden trees in the dappled sunlight.
Blue Sky's iconic, often visited theme -- adding dignity to old rusty cars presenting them in an idyllic fashion, is shown in his "Blue Barracuda" something he came upon on the outskirts of Edisto.
A selection of other new work is also being shown including a vibrant yet moody moonrise over Columbia with the Gervais Street Bridge entitled "Bejeweled Vista", and then a starkly different figural depiction of "Botticelli Lynn", a dynamic angelic pose paying homage to both Botticelli and Blue Sky's wife. And once again, with "Big Blue Buick" which depicts a 1953 Buick, grass growing up through the grill, he tenderly expresses his continued fondness of the automobile. These "car face" paintings are the true portraits representative of the twentieth century.
One difference this show has in comparison to most of his recent series over the years is the overall scale has been toned down. Traveling with a carload of easels, canvas, and art supplies around South Carolina as Blue Sky enjoys more than anything, sometimes requires that the works begun or painted on location are somewhat more sensibly sized. For those of you looking for his wonderfully detailed and masterfully painted work in more manageable sizes, this is a show you can't miss.
Exhibit dates are October 1st - November 29th, 2008
INTERNATIONAL NEWS:
"Tunnelvision" will be featured at the Nationalmuseum in Sweden this fall and on the travel channel, commissioned by the BBC, in the United Kingdom.
To receive email notices:
If you would like to receive notices of our promotions and exhibits, please send your email address to us at Lsky@blueskyart.com
Please specify in the subject field if your interest is in "ORIGINALS", "PRINTS", "HISTORICAL", or more specific topics, so we can keep you up to date in your category of interest. Please include your full name and city as well.
Our apologies to those inconvenienced on October 16th, 2008 when our website was temporarily down.
- "Car Painting Hit by Car"
Posted by Lynn Sky on July 14, 2008
For Immediate Release: Car Painting Hit by Car
Renowned artist, Blue Sky (born 1938 as Warren Edward Johnson) best known for his 50 foot by 75 foot internationally acclaimed mural “Tunnelvision” projected to be featured at the Nationalmuseum in Sweden this fall, has suffered a recent ironic loss.
Earlier this year, two of his trademark “Car Face” car paintings were run over by a car.
While transporting them on the top of his vintage Volkswagen Camper from the downtown “Vista” of Columbia, SC, where they were on loan, back to the funky “Five Points” area where his gallery is, the bungee cords snapped and both paintings flew through the air onto Pendleton Street, near the University of South Carolina.
“Coop de Ville” and “Lost Power Restored”, well received large scale paintings, both five feet by six feet, were ironically damaged and one was virtually deconstructed by a car. “Coop de Ville”, a play on the word Coup, represents the inevitable conclusion of an old circa 1956 Cadillac in the south as it becomes a luxurious chicken coop. The Strom Thurmond bumper sticker is still visible. “Lost Power Restored”, depicts the face of a circa 1938 Dodge and refers to the visible old STP bumper sticker making reference to their early commercials touting ‘restores loss power’.
Although no cars were within a block of the incident at the onset except for the artist’s wife and gallery owner Lynn who was following in her Volvo S/W, after the artist took the time to stomp on the brakes, stop the vehicle, put the VW in neutral, put on the handbrakes, cut the engine off, unbuckle his seat belt, get out of the camper to retrieve the paintings, one of which was blown over into the oncoming lane, a student, who was obviously not paying attention, inadvertently ran over the painting. Running completely over the painting would have done minimal damage, but while bystanders, the artist and his wife looked on in horror, the student upon finally seeing the painting at the last minute, slammed on the brakes of her Dodge Durango SUV, and skidded across the face of the painting, shredding it to bits as it was ground into the pavement. The entire right side of the work was obliterated.
To add insult to injury, the student refused to remove the SUV with the oversized tires from the painting until a composed and coolheaded policeman arrived because she thought she had gotten into an accident. (She did hit a car after all…. even if it was just a painting of a car.) In fact, the student wouldn’t even acknowledge anyone was talking to her when asked to remove her car so that the $30,000 painting could be retrieved. She was worried about her tires.
No charges were filed by either party, but considering that so many people have threatened to drive into Sky’s realistic “Tunnelvsion” mural, it appears inevitable that something like this was bound to happen eventually. Add to that the forty plus years of transporting his large scale works of art on top of a mélange of convertibles and cars, the odds were in favor of this thematically ironic experience.
To try to “re-Coop” their losses, the Blue Sky Gallery salvaged and mounted the torn canvas pieces of “Coop de Ville” on stretched canvas and offered them for sale at the gallery. The pieces, now on display until July 30th, sold to one collector before they could even be hung. A postcard of the entire painting in its original whole state will be presented with each of the twelve pieces, five of which have been termed ‘scrap metal’ abstracts. The seven salvaged pieces included vignettes of the grill, the left headlight depicting the anthropomorphic “eye” of the car, the hood ornament, the mother hen, the chicks, the rooster, and a cow.
The other painting, “Lost Power Restored” lately featured in lectures by Mary Lynn Kotz (Rauschenberg’s biographer), suffered minimal damage as it simply fell into the street shattering the stretcher bars into splinters. It will not be offered at this time.
Both paintings can be seen on the website as well at www.blueskyart.com
For more information contact: Lynn Sky
Lsky@blueskyart.com (803) 318-6867
Blue Sky Gallery 733 Saluda Avenue Columbia, SC 29205 (803) 779-4242 www.blueskyart.com
- East Coast/West Coast - Edisto & Malibu exhibit
Posted by Lynn Sky on February 29, 2008
A selection of paintings from California is now on display at the Blue Sky Gallery along with recent paintings of Edisto Beach. Most of the California paintings are views of Malibu and both exhibits are primarily plein air works. The show emphasizes the vastly different coastal views - the jutting rocks and mountains in the west juxtaposed with the Palmetto trees and marsh grass in the east.
We will be open late on March 7th for the Five Points First Fridays festivities in an opening kickoff for the St Patricks Day festival on March 15th. Come and join the fun on the 7th until 8pm and help dye the fountain green! - Open by Appointment only until January 16th, 2008
Posted by Lynn Sky on December 31, 2007
We will be open by appointment only until Wednesday, January 16th, 2008. If you need to pick up or purchase a painting please call Nyna @ (803) 446-9642 or Lynn @ (803) 318-6867.
However, we will be open for the 5 points "First Friday" on January 4th from 5-8pm.
....or by chance....
Normal gallery hours of Wednesday - Saturday, 11:30 to 5:30 will resume on January 16th. Thank you for your support and Happy New Year!
- "A Gift of Something Significant"
Posted by Lynn Sky on November 21, 2007
Join us FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7th for the
"FIVE POINTS SHOPPING EXTRAVAGANZA"!
Enjoy Hot Cider, Carolers, and Photos with Santa.
Events and Extended Five Points Shopping Hours:
Friday, Dec. 7th, 3-8pm, Sat., Dec. 8th, 12-8pm
Want something unique, meaningful, lasting? Original paintings by Blue Sky have been known to not only incite passion and reduce blood pressure, they appreciate considerably and hold their value over time.
Blue Sky (born in 1938 as Warren Edward Johnson) has made his living solely on his fine art and fine art murals since 1970. He is not on the city payroll, he is not on the state payroll, he is not on the federal payroll. He is a living treasure who generously gives his time and efforts, too often at his own expense to create great art for everyone, and especially for those in Columbia to enjoy. While almost every other art form or art organization in the city is tax payer supported, Blue Sky and his wife Lynn have managed to maintain a gallery in Five Points for over 18 years - without any grants, without any donations, without any hand outs from the city payroll. Often treated like a museum, and practically run out of business due to the "beautification and streetscaping" that continued for over 3 years in 5 Points, the Blue Sky Gallery would like to encourage Columbia, South Carolina and the world, to show their appreciation by continuing to support Blue Sky's art.
After Blue Sky and his mural "Tunnelvision" appeared in People Magazine in 1975, and on the Associated Press (AP) wire, an explosion of murals began cropping up around the world. Travel the world, far and wide, and you will not find a mural as dynamic and powerful and masterfully painted by any living artist. He is arguably the world's finest mural painter, who has not only influenced the direction of art in paintings more than anyone in the southeast, he has influenced the direction of murals around the world. His work is represented in the Smithsonian and numerous other museums and collections, and he is included in Who's Who in the World".
It is difficult to see genius sometimes, and especially when it is so close to you, but what we have here is a rarity seldom seen in our lifetime. An original painting by Blue Sky is a lasting investment in the native son who has continued to put Columbia on the map again and again and again.
Original sketches begin around $40.