Artist Biographies in Alphabetical order numerous museums and public collections throughout region including The High Museum of Art, Hammonds House Museum and Clark Atlanta University Art Galleries.
Kevin O'Keith
September Gray Fine Art Gallery
Kevin O’Keith Corley is an Atlanta based painter from Chicago who is known for his distinctive impressionistic paintings. For him, music and art are inextricably linked, having played the trumpet when he was young. These two creative disciplines influence not only his life, but also his oil and acrylic paintings. He works only when inspired and the impetus always comes from life and music. With no formal training in art, books have taught O'Keith. However, he has been encouraged by artists such as Gilbert Young and Kevin A. Williams /WAK, who became O’Keith’s mentor, and helped guide his career. His first solo art exhibition entitled Love Supreme ran for 4 months at the Chattanooga African American Museum, he was selected as a National Winner of the Bombay Sapphire Artisian Series contest, and was awarded a showing at Miami Art Basel. Art to O’Keith, is the materialization of thought and how it expresses the spirit through form. He believes the magic starts in the mind, and artists know that whatever they can clearly create in their minds can manifest into a concrete reality. His goal is to use art as an educational tool that will inspire others to look within themselves.
Richard Olsen
TEW Galleries
Richard Olsen earned a Bachelor of Science and an M.F.A. in painting and printmaking from the University of Wisconsin. He is a nationally recognized and award-winning artist and educator. Olsen’s drawings and paintings utilize a personal expressionistic and abstract style and often depict specific imagery related to the Vietnam landscape, aerial flight, moonlight and sunlight and studio interior. He was the recipient of a visual arts fellowship from the Southern Arts Federation, a merit award for three works in the 29th Juried Exhibition at the Lyndon House Arts Center, and a purchase award from the 8th annual Maine/Maritime International Flatworks Exhibition. As an educator, Mr. Olsen has worked at the intermediate, secondary and higher education levels. He served as a teaching assistant at the University of Wisconsin, art teacher for grade 8 at Winnequah Grade School, instructor of printmaking at the Operating Area Arts Center, instructor of painting and drawing at the University of Georgia, and general Sandy Beaver Professorship at the University of Georgia.
Joe Peragine
Marcia Wood Gallery
Joseph Peragine’s paintings, sculpture and animation have been presented in galleries, contemporary art spaces, and museums throughout the USA and internationally. The scope of Peragine’s multi-disciplinary practice includes exhibitions at Islip Museum of Art, West Islip, NY, Art in General in New York City, Palm Beach ICA, Florida, the Cheekwood Museum of Art, Nashville, Tennessee, Polk Museum of Art, Lakeland, Florida, the UA Museum of Art, Kress Gallery, Tucson, Arizona, the Zuckerman Museum of Art, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, Georgia. His public art piece for the Hartsfield Jackson International Airport, Atlanta was awarded an Atlanta Urban Design Commission Award of Excellence for Public Art, as well as being noted one of the best public art projects in 2001 in Art in America. Peragine’s animation Patriotic Drawings for Children was recently screened as an official selection of the Garden State Film Festival in Asbury Park New Jersey and his most recent solo exhibition was “After the Hunt” at Marcia Wood Gallery. Born in Jersey City, NY (b. 1961), Peragine has an M.F.A. in painting from Georgia State University, Atlanta, where he is currently Director of the School and a Professor in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking.
Mario Petrirena
Sandler Hudson Gallery
Mario Petrirena works with a variety of mediums ranging from sculpture to installations. Previous themes explored by Petrirena encompass complexities surrounding dual heritage and identity. A Cuban native, Petrirena attended the 67