701 Center for Contemporary Art presents a Solo Exhibition by latest Artist-in-Residence, Janet Orselli

Janet Orselli: re:Visions 

Exhibition: January 17 – March 3, 2019 

Object Tales: Thursday, January 17, 6 pm 

Opening Reception: Thursday, January 17, 7 – 9 pm 

Reception Admission: $5 suggested donation for non-members 

Contact: Hannah Shepard 

701 Center for Contemporary Art 

701 Whaley St., 2nd Floor, Columbia, SC 29201 

(803) 319–9949 

[email protected] 

www.701cca.org 

(Columbia, SC) — 701 Center for Contemporary Art will kick-off 2019 with Janet  Orselli’s re:Visions exhibition, running from January 17th to March 3rd, 2019. Orselli is the latest Artist-in-Residence at 701 CCA. She combines and assembles found  objects and surrounding spaces to transform their meaning and the viewers’ experience. “I  want the installation to speak about the innocent physical world that seems to be lost but can  be chosen to re-enter at any moment,” said Orselli. 

The opening reception of re:Visions takes place on Thursday, January 17th from 7-9 pm. One  hour prior to the opening reception, Orselli will give an artist talk in the form of storytelling  from the point of view of her objects.  

Using a process of connection, Orselli puts pieces and parts together to create a new whole  from objects that were once treasured. Each object speaks of what it once was, its unique  history, yet at the same time, it becomes something new and unexpected. She continues by  explaining the intent behind her work: “Always, I hope to surprise and present the world in a  new, unseen way.” 

Janet Orselli, a Columbia native, was the 701 CCA Artist in Residence from October 2018  through January 2019. The exhibition will include work created during her residency. From Tyron, N.C., Orselli holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Clemson University. She  was selected to participate in artist residencies at Anderson Ranch, Colorado, Spring Island,  S.C. and Kaiserslautern, Germany. She received three Regional Artist Project Grants from the  NC Arts Council and was awarded a national Pollock-Krasner Foundation Fellowship. She has  been included in numerous group exhibitions and had over a dozen solo exhibitions including  OK Harris Works of Art, NYC and the Gibbes Museum, Charleston, SC.  Orselli asks her viewers to rely on their senses, as her works encourage a slower pace,  referring to a time past in which objects were cherished and made with care. “As an only  child,” says Orselli, “My friends were the wooden toys, books, and games that accompanied 

my mother and her parents and grandparents through thick and thin times… Playing with  them was an imaginative, sensory experience.”  

At an early age, Orselli felt that the old and worn was precious and more valuable than the  new. They seem to change slowly as if awaiting some magical moment of metamorphosis.  She chose to make art from leftovers of the past, “I use these objects to create a language,  tell a story and build a world.”  

“If objects can change – then so can we!” 

 

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