DCAD & Terrance Vann Present ‘Local + Famous’ Artists

Wilmington artist Terrance Vann.

This post content courtesy of a press release from Delaware College of Art & Design...

Painter, illustrator and muralist Terrance Vann is guest-curating an exhibition of more than 50 pieces of contemporary and accessible street art by more than two dozen artists of note, both locally and beyond, for Delaware College of Art and Design (DCAD) in August. Local + Famous: A Celebration of Homegrown Talent will fill DCAD’s Toni & Stuart B. Young Gallery from August 3 to 19.

Vann (also known by his Instagram handle @Terranceism) will co-host the show with fellow Wilmington artist Alim Smith (known as @yesterdaynite on Instagram). Smith is best known for his iconic “Memes” exhibition, which went viral online and attracted national press attention. Together Vann and Smith are known as The Color Brothers, and the works they’re bringing to DCAD promise to be vibrant.

“This show will challenge the traditional formation of how an exhibition looks, nodding to the popular fairs produced in Miami and New York,” says DCAD gallery and events manager Kelicia Pitts. “It will showcase some of the many homegrown and hidden talents in Wilmington.”

An example of this will be Vann’s own vividly colorful work, which Pitts has long admired and says “aims to portray the surreal world of our imaginations.” Vann received a 2017 Delaware Division of the Arts Emerging Artists Fellowship and has exhibited pieces nationwide. He is thrilled to have been asked to curate such a show at DCAD.

“Talent in this area is just as powerful,” says Vann, who considers Local + Famous to be a pop-up art fair. “It deserves to be showcased in this contemporary way.”

Among the artists exhibiting alongside Vann and Smith will be Shanina Dionna, who was a winner in Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean’s international “The Dean Collection 20 St(art)ups” or TDC20 competition. Joining their work will be pieces from the area’s veterans of the art world, including Rick Rockroth, Eunice LaFate, K.O. Simms and many more. Local galleries and tattoo shops also will be represented.

Local + Famous will open with a reception from 5:00 to 10:00pm on Friday, August 3, in conjunction with Art Loop Wilmington. Van Gogh Vodka, liquor sponsor for the event, will be 10:00am to 6:00pm Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays; 10:00am to 7:00pm Wednesdays; and 10:00am to 4:00pm Saturdays and Sundays.

For a full list of Local + Famous artists or for other information about the exhibition, contact DCAD communications director Susan Coulby at 302.622.8000 (office), 302.983.5710 (cell) or scoulby@dcad.edu.

K. O. Simms on the June Art Loop

A truck with a large painting in the back pulled up to Veritas Wine Shop, and a man unfolded himself from the driver’s seat. Artist K. O. Simms is here to meet and greet people at his exhibit inside the new riverfront wine store.

Simms is a man who enjoys creating his work among his “subjects”. He has often set his canvas up on busy street corners in Wilmington. He told me he likes to paint things as they happen, and he would love to paint a concert in progress.

His work at Veritas includes a sizeable interpretation of the Wilmington Riverfront, done in acrylic with a palette knife. The knife strokes form a rough texture and shapes that made me feel as though I could reach into the painting and touch objects inside. “People ask me, ‘don’t you ever use brushes?’, says Simms. “But I prefer working with a palette knife.”

Many of his works have a jazz theme and incorporate bright or rich coloring. His Billie Holiday piece depicts her with vibrant flowers in her hair as she croons into the microphone. The background is an intense blue, with a bass player vanishing into the space. Clifford Brown shows the trumpet player at the heart of the piece, clothed in a bright green suit.

Other works capture day-to-day city happenings. His East Ninth Street and Pine displays heavy red bricks on the buildings. The people portrayed are those he knows, such as an old man collecting trash on the street. “He was always out there, trying to maintain the neighborhood,” noted Simms.

When talking about his painting of a wedding, he spoke expressively of the young ring bearer and his recovery from childhood cancer. Simms’ art clearly not only illustrates events and people he reveres, but also celebrates the “little things” in everyday life here in Wilmington.

An active art instructor, K. O. Simms teaches primarily at “The Gibby” in Middletown. He’ll also be offering a course on Painting in Nature at Wilmington’s Blue Ball Barn on June 14 as part of Alapocas Run State Park’s summer programming. For details, call the park office at 302.577.1164.