Callen McJunkin Gallery

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My Cousin's Wedding, 2009 AWARD OF EXCELLENCE, purchase award for the West Virginia Division of Culture and History

Pets that Drink and the Reason Why (Six panel series)

Under the Volcano

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Charles Jupiter Hamilton

Bio

Charles Jupiter Hamilton creates highly expressive wood relief paintings, sculpture and prints that combine the vitality of contemporary art with rich and resonant figurative imagery. Known for his vivid colors, elaborate mosaic patterns and studied primitivism, Hamilton makes captivating images laced with unbridled enthusiasm that might seem almost child-like were it not for his sophisticated techniques and satirical humor. His thoughts are suspended in a teeming spectacle that seduces the eye, encouraging the viewer to search past the work's surface, beyond the intricacy of arabesque designs, to reveal images within images - mythological beasts, whimsical animals and animated figures.

The use of wood is central to his work. The wood is shaped and etched free-hand with a carpenter's router and then brightly painted in bursts of hot and cold colors. To use Charles Jupiter Hamilton's own words, his use of color, "goes immediately for the nervous system."

The work of Charles Hamilton has received warm recognition beyond West Virginia's border and has been exhibited in galleries and museums in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Tampa and Washington,D.C. His works have won numerous purchase prizes and awards and are held in several museum and corporate collections including Sunrise Museum in Charleston, WV; Susquehanna Fine Art Museum in Harrisburg, PA; Thompson Cigar, Tampa FL; and Fidelity Investments, Boston, MA.

Charles Jupiter Hamilton was born in Princeton, New Jersey in 1948 and received his art training at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His inspiration comes from American pop-culture cartoons and billboard advertising. He has also been influenced by traditional Appalachian wood carvings and renderings of gargoyles from European cathedrals.

Artist Statement

Artist Statement Here.

CV

Awards & Exhibitions

Huntington Gallery, 280 Show, Juried, Huntington, WV, 2007
Apololic Show, Annex Gallery, April 2007, Charleston, WV
Tamarack Gallery, "Where The Boys Are", Group Show of WV Male Artists, Fall of 2006
Marilyn Cooper Gallery, Group Show, winter 2006, solo show July 2007, Lewisburg, WV
Clayton Gallery, Continuous Group Show, Winter 2006-07
Annex Gallery, Mini-Solo Show "The Great Wall of Charly"
Sycamore Art Center, Solo Show "Monkey Speaks", Decateur/Atlanta, GA, July/Aug. 2006
Carnegie Hall, Group Show "Festival of Color", juried show, Spring 2006, Lewisburg, WV
Callen McJunkin Gallery, Solo Show "Out in Left Field with Charly" April, 2006, Charleston, WV
Annex Gallery, "Popular Visions", Solo Show, Oct. 2004, Charleston, WV
Callen McJunkin Gallery, Gallery Artist "Spring Show", April 2004, Charleston, WV
Blue Gallery, Asheville, NC. Group Show 2003
Monkey Studio, "Birthday Boy", solo show, Asheville, NC 2003
Annex Gallery, "Charly Vision" solo show, Charleston, Oct. 2001
Major Music Gallery, 3 person show, "Rough Walls" show. Charleston, Oct.-Nov. 2000
Museum in The Community, Solo Putnam County Show, "Kids' Show". Work influenced by childrens workshops. May 2000
Carnegie Hall, Solo Show, May 2000, Lewisburg, WV
Cultural Center of Fine Arts, Selections from Collections, Parkersburg, WV, January-March, 2000
Callen McJunkin Gallery, Foreign Influences, group show, Charleston WV, October 1999
West Virginia Cultural Center, Contemporary Art in West Virginia, solo show, Charleston, WV, September-November 1998
West Virginia Cultural Center, WV Juried Exhibition, Charleston WV, 1997 Clayton Gallery, Tenth Anniversary Invitational, Tampa FL, September-October 1997
WV International Film Festival Arts Award, First Prize, Charleston WV, October 1997
Stifel Fine Arts Center, "Crosscurrents," Juried exhibition, Wheeling WV, May-June 1997
Callen McJunkin Gallery, group show, Charleston WV, April-May 1997
Camille Love Gallery, group show, Atlanta GA, November-December 1996
Allied Artists of West Virginia 60th Juried Exhibition, Award of Excellence, Charleston WV, August 1996
Sunrise Museum, "Jupiter in 3D: Demons, Dogs, and Dreams," installations by Charles & Trudy Hamilton, Charleston WV, January-March 1996
West Virginia Cultural Center, WV Juried Exhibition, Charleston WV, 1995
Camille Love Gallery, solo show, Atlanta GA, July 1995
Clayton Gallery, two-person show, Tampa FL, April-May 1995
WV International Film Festival Arts Award, First Prize, Charleston WV, October 1994
Birke Art Gallery, Marshall University, solo show, Huntington WV, September-October 1994
WV Governor's Mansion, Arts & Letters Series, "Fun & Fantasy" group exhibition, Charleston WV, August 1994
Callen McJunkin Gallery, group show, Charleston WV, June-July 1994
Franz Bader Gallery, solo show, Washington DC, May 1994
Arden Gallery, "Fools at the Angel Bar," solo show, Boston MA, December 1993
West Virginia Cultural Center, WV Juried Exhibition, Charleston WV, 1993
Callen McJunkin Gallery, group show, Charleston WV, Nov.-Dec. 1993
Huntington Museum of Art, "Exhibition 280: Off the Walls," Juried exhibition, Honorable Mention, Huntington WV, March-June 1993
Marietta College, group show, Marietta OH, January 1993
Art Miami, The Artists Fund, Miami FL, January 1993
Arden Gallery, "Howling Heart," solo show, Boston MA, Sept.-Oct. 1992
Callen McJunkin Gallery, two-person show, Charleston WV, June-July 1992
Clayton Gallery, "Barking at Heaven's Door," solo show, Tampa FL, May-1992
Huntington Museum of Art, Exhibition 280: On the Walls," Juried exhibition, Huntington WV, March-June, 1992
Museum of Southern Ohio, group show, Portsmouth OH, Nov.-Dec. 1992 West Virginia State College, "In the Mouth of the Dog," solo show, Institute WV, February 1992
Susquehanna Fine Art Museum, group show, Harrisburg PA, 1992
West Virginia Cultural Center, "Fish, Furniture, and Things That Won't Float," invitational, Charleston WV, October 1991-February l992
Franz Bader Gallery, solo show, Washington DC, October 1991
Sande Webster Gallery, group show' Philadelphia PA, July-August 1991
"Portraits of Friends, " collaborative exhibit, Grandview Gallery, West Virginia University, Morgantown WV, July 1991; Boarman Art Center, Martinsburg WV June 1991
Washington Square Art Program, "Art About Function," group show, Washington DC, February-May 1991
Clayton Gallery, "Whirl, Push, Pull," solo show, Tampa FL, Nov.-Dec. 1990
West Virginia University, Grandview Gallery, solo show, Morgantown WV, October 1990
Arden Gallery, "Sleeping With the Cosmos and Hiding from the Lightning Gods," solo show, Boston MA, September-October 1990
Stifel Fine Arts Center, "Crosscurrents," Juried exhibition, First Place, Wheeling WV, June-July 1990
Franz Bader Gallery, group show, Washington DC, May 1990
Clayton Gallery, group show, Tampa FL, May-June 1990
Lannon Gallery, "Themes from the Buzzer Head Rebellion," solo show, Chicago, IL, March-April 1990
Museum in the Community, "New Year's Resolution," invitational, Scott Depot WV, January-February 1990
Stifel Fine Arts Center, "Crosscurrents," Juried exhibition, First Place, Wheeling WV, June-July 1990
West Virginia Cultural Center, WV Juried Exhibition, Honorable Mention, Charleston WV, November 1989-March 1990
Arden Gallery, group show, Boston MA, November-December 1989
Franz Bader Gallery, group show, Washington DC, November-December 1989
Franz Bader Gallery, solo show, Washington DC, July 1989
Arden Gallery, Artists' Annual Show, Boston MA, June-August 1989
Sunrise Museum, "Where the Boys Are," Presenting Four WV Artists Exhibition, Charleston WV, April-July 1989
"Portraits of Friends," collaborative exhibition, Museum in the Community, Scott Depot WV, Oct.1988; Youth Museum of Southern WV, Beckley WV, Jan.-Feb. 1989; Appalshop, Whitesburg KY, Feb.-March 1989; West Virginia Cultural Center, Charleston WV, May-July 1989
Huntington Museum of Art, "Exhibition 280: Off the Walls," Award of Excellence, Huntington, WV, March-June 1989
Clayton Gallery, group show, Tampa FL, December 1988-January 1989
West Virginia University, group show, Morgantown WV, October 1988
Lannon Gallery, group show, Chicago IL, September-October 1988
Arden Gallery, solo show, Boston MA, September 1988
Arden Gallery, group show, Boston MA, April 1988
Huntington Museum of Art, "Exhibition 280: On the Walls," Honorable Mention, Huntington WV, 1988
Tampa Museum of Art Tampa Triennial, Tampa FL, 1988
Arden Gallery, group show, Boston MA, Dec. 1987-Jan. 1988
Richard Charl Gallery, solo show, Charleston WV, May 1987
WV Institute of Technology, solo show, Charleston WV, May 1987
University of Charleston, "Crititics' Choice," invitational, Charleston WV, 1987
Sunrise Museum, "Up Against the Wall," invitational, Charleston WV, 1987
Huntington Museum of Art, "Exhibition 280: Off the Walls," Juried exhibit, Huntington WV, 1986
West Virginia Cultural Center, "Fun and Fantasy," invitational, Charleston WV, 1986
Allied Artists Juried Show, Sunrise Museum, Charleston WV, 1986
Huntington Museum of Art, "Exhibition 280: On the Walls," Juried exhibit, Huntington WV, 1986
Various group shows at Art Space Gallery, Charleston WV, 1985-1986
Greensboro Art Center, two-person show, Greensboro, NC, 1975
North Carolina Museum of Art, NG Juried Exhibition, Raleigh NC, 1974
Gallery of Southeastern Contemporary Art, Regional Show, Winston-Salem NC, 1974
Greater Raleigh Area Art Show, Second Place, Raleigh NG, 1972
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, Student Art Purchase Awards, Chapel Hill NC, 1972, 1973
National Print Show, Davidson College NC, 1971

Collections

Nicholas Cage, Actor, Hollywood, CA
Class VI River Runners, New River, WV
Terry and Danta DeTrapino, Charleston, WV
Clay Center for the Arts & Sciences of West Virginia, Charleston WV
Charles Ryan Associates
Charleston Civic Center & Municiple Auditorium, Charleston WV
Marshall University College of Graduate Studies, Charleston WV
Sunrise Museum, Charleston WV
Museum in the Community, Scott Depot WV
Susquehanna Fine Art Museum, Harrisburg PA
Ackland Art Museum, UNC, Chapel Hill NC
Thompson Cigar, Tampa FL
Fidelity Investments, Boston MA
Allen Dershowitz, Los Angeles CA

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