Three Solo Shows:
Wiley Akers: I Don’t Know Mind
Owens Daniels: Digital Protest 2020
Barbara Rizza Mellin: Lunaria, Carborundum Mezzotints

Exhibition dates: March 5-March 28, 2021

Shop these exhibits online in our Gallery Shop.

---

Wiley Akers

Wiley Akers calls the work in his show an expression of “I Don’t Know Mind,” saying, “the best art that I have created in the past came about, for the most part, because I didn’t know what I was doing. So with an empty mind and no preconceived ideas or plans I start making pencil marks without looking at the canvas.” Upon the artist looking at the marks he determines if it wants to “become something.” Akers process allows one thing to lead to another; some quickly done to repress thinking, while others taking days.

Wiley Akers has a BFA and a MEd from UNCG. He taught art to middle and high school students for 25 years. In addition to his shows at Artworks Gallery he has exhibited at ASU, WCU, UNCG, and Delurk Gallery.

---

Owens Daniels

Owens Daniels uses the visual arts to express his interpretation of the world, and photography to open unexplored spaces between the subject and viewer exposing them both to a world of opportunities and experiences. “Digital Protest 2020” in a narrow sense is “Social Realism Art,” a term used for works by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to socio-political, equity and social justice conditions of the working class.  This work also operates as a means to critique the power structures that produce the environment and culture for these conditions. 

2019 Duke Energy Grant and Z Smith Reynolds Lead Artist for the Presence Absence Project awardee, Owens Daniels is a visual artist/photographer, educator and the face behind ODP Art+Design Bold, Creative and Innovative Artwork. In addition to formal training at the U.S Army Photographic School of Cartography, Daniels has worked as a freelance photographer and served as Artist in Residences, participated in Public Art Installations, and been the recipient of grants and varied other commissions.

---

Barbara Rizza Mellin

Barbara Rizza Mellin’s “Lunaria,” showcases in black and white, the delicate beauty of the unpretentious plant, sometimes called Honesty or Money Plant. The exhibit of carborundum mezzotints is made up of two components: a wall installation of 48 6-inch-square mezzotints, as well as 16 framed mezzotint print images, each with an original haiku.  As an art historian, Mellin likes to reinterpret traditional media and techniques, using less toxic materials for modern audiences. 

Barbara Rizza Mellin is a printmaker, painter, and writer, who has been a member of Artworks Gallery since 2017.  She is also a member of several local and national professional organizations including AAWS, AFAS, the DADA Collective, the International Mezzotint Society and Winston-Salem Writers. 

---

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

Artworks Gallery, Inc. 
564 North Trade Street, Winston-Salem, NC  27101.
Gallery phone: 336-723-5890
March Gallery Hours: Friday 12-3 Saturday 11-5 Sunday 1-4
Or by appointment at shop@artworks-gallery.org

Find more info on visiting our gallery here.