our beautiful city is in full bloom and so is the gallery. april solo exhibitions for beth edwards, rick beck and chris terry are up and luminous. when it was time to schedule tennessee artist beth edwards inaugural exhibition at the gallery we intentionally penciled her in for the spring. we knew her incredible botanical paintings would bring the outdoors in and fill the gallery with the joy of springtime. beth was a long time professor of art and her skills are on full display. rick beck always brings a rainbow palette to his cast glass sculptures. we are super excited to have his iconic bolts and screw series back plus an exclusive golden retriever cast glass dog only available at hbg. also included in the show are serving sets and his spoons. rick’s long standing history of glass making in north carolina especially at the penland school of glass and in spruce pine makes showing his work extra special. one glance at chris terry’s still life paintings calms your mind and puts your soul at ease. he captures an empty room and the quiet stillness reflected through objects and light exquisitely. his paintings speak volumes in their silence. all three artists, long time teachers and practicing artists, have refined their skills and mastered respective subject matters in their own way.
rick beck is a studio artist who was based in spruce pine, north carolina for 30 years before moving to hawaii in 2020 . he began working in glass at hastings college in nebraska, where he received his ba. he received an mfa from southern illinois university. in 1994, rick was awarded a visual arts fellowship by the north carolina arts council, followed by a national endowment for the arts regional visual arts fellowship from the southern arts federation in 1995. beck is part of the studio glass movement. he has taught at the prestigious pilchuck glass school, assisting artists curtiss brock and jan mares and also at the penland school of craft in the North Carolina mountains. rick beck is known for his large-scale cast glass sculpture depicting industrial, everyday objects and the human figure. his sculpture is widely represented in museums and private collections across the u.s. and internationally. rick was recently interviewed on talking out your glass podcast discussing his studio practice.
““my work in glass is a synthesis of human and mechanical form, with an emphasis on formal aspects. i am interested in playing the volumes of mass against the rhythm of the lines. i enjoy the interplay of the visual (visceral) versus the verbal (descriptive/technical). the work should challenge the eye and the mind.””
beth edwards was born in alabama and lives and works in memphis. she received a bfa from the tyler school of art in philadelphia and an mfa from indiana university. edwards has had an active 30-year career painting, exhibiting, and teaching. she taught painting at the university of memphis for 21 years and is the recipient of many awards, grants, commissions, and residencies. recent awards and honors include the distinguished research award from the university of memphis; arts accelerator grant, artsmemphis; alumni association distinguished achievement in the creative arts award, university of memphis; emmett o’ryan award for artistic inspiration from artsmemphis and willow park mural, urbanart commission for the city of memphis. most recently she was awarded a tennessee arts commission individual artist fellowship.
she has participated in solo and group exhibitions in galleries, museums, institutions and organizations across the united states, including the huntsville museum of art in huntsville, al; the dixon gallery and gardens in memphis; the contemporary art workshop in chicago, il; springfield museum of art in springfield, oh; arkansas museum of fine arts in little rock, ar; delta state university in cleveland, ms; and the san francisco international fine arts exposition.
beth edwards working in her memphis studio
chris terry was born in stamford, connecticut in 1956. he attended rhode island college in providence, ri where he earned a ba in studio art in 1978. he continued his education at the university of wisconsin-madison, where he earned his master of fine arts degree in 1981. after moving back to connecticut, he began exhibiting his paintings in and around the new york area in 1982. accepting a teaching position at california state university, long beach in 1984 brought him to the west coast where he exhibited his work at galleries in both los angeles and san Francisco. in 1988 he accepted a position at utah state university and began teaching painting and drawing there. professor terry is the recipient of numerous awards as a painter including the utah visual artist fellowship, and a WESTAF/NEA fellowship in painting. he has twice been the recipient of a fulbright fellowship for teaching and research in germany and in 2000 was a visiting artist at the american academy in rome. recently retired from utah state university, terry now lives in rhode island, where he has a studio on north road in jamestown.
chris terry’s studio in rhode island
all available work by each artist can be viewed on our website under their individual tabs including sizing + pricing. hidell brooks gallery is by appointment. please call the gallery if you have any further questions.