Pleiades Gallery's 'SURGE' expresses elements of power

The Pleiades Gallery in downtown Durham has barely passed its 6-month anniversary, but its second ever exhibit is already surging in popularity.

“SURGE: Art About Physical Power” officially opened at the gallery on Sept. 18 and runs until October 6.

The Pleiades will also be a downtown business sponsor at Durham Arts Council’s 39th annual CenterFest Arts Festival this weekend, said Kim Wheaton, one of the founding artists of the Pleiades.

“Several members will have individual booths and Pleiades will have its own booth at CenterFest,” Wheaton said.

“Showing at CenterFest will bring more people in and let them see high quality, local art.”

Wheaton, one of the founding artists of the Pleiades, said a lot of the pieces in “SURGE” have to do with wind, tides, the power of the human body, tiny insects and even the power of silence.

The Pleiades is composed of 10 artists who alternate between running the gallery and making art for the exhibits. The collective includes Wheaton, Renee Leverty — another founder — Saba Barnard, Jim Adams, Sandra Elliott, Darius Quarles, Jim Lee, Emily Cox, Jena Matzen and Calvin Brett.

The collective is dynamic, and includes artists mostly from Durham, but a few are from Chapel Hill and Raleigh.

“Being in a collective, we can do really cool things like change our exhibits every month and redirect profits to charities, for example,” Wheaton said.

Barnard has a painting of an anatomical human heart decorated in flowers in the exhibit. This piece, called “Tree of Life,” was painted in response to current events in Syria, she said.

Barnard said she wanted to contribute something non-political that focused on the actual people involved.

“I don’t really know how to do much other than make art,” she said.

Half of the proceeds from “Tree of Life” will go to an organization helping the people and refugees in Syria, Barnard said.

Artist Sandra Elliott created a piece for the exhibit that deals with the voices in your head that distract you from calming down, she said.

Elliott called herself one of the abstract painters of the group, and “Quiet!!!” came from a personal place, she said.

Working with a small collective of artists is like having a potluck dinner, Elliott said. She said sometimes you don’t know if there will be enough main dishes, or desserts, but somehow it always works out.

“The artists don’t talk to one another after we are given a theme, and that’s why the most exciting day for me is installation day,” she said.

“It’s really incredible to see how all the pieces work together in the end.”

arts@dailytarheel.com