Buildings are more than brick and mortar to artist Gay Arthur; they are living, breathing structures that speak to her. While she loves architecture in general, she is most drawn to old buildings, especially those in danger of returning to the dust from which they came.
Through her paintings, the Hixson-based artist hopes to pass on what she has heard.
For her most recent exhibit, “Going Inside,” Arthur entered the buildings she painted to explore the symbolism of each one. Her oil painting of the inside of a barn takes observers through the building to the way out. “We have to go through things to get to where we want to be,” she says.
Her painting of a bureau she found in a pre-Civil War cabin in Wildwood, Ga., represents the things people hide within themselves. She painted one of the drawers opened - to let out its secrets.
And her painting of the interior of a building in Barnsley Gardens in Adairsville, Ga., shows two archways leading to different rooms. “We all have different paths we can choose,” she says.
In addition to sharing what the buildings she paints say to her, Arthur wants to honor the structures by creating a memorial to their existence. Her paintings of Wheland Foundry prior to its demolition seem to tell a story about the people who once worked there. “This place touched lives. People worked there, supported families, made friends, fell in love - and that history will soon be gone,” she says.
Arthur has weaved the theme of obsolesce throughout her work. It’s most apparent in her paintings of U.S. Pipe, a deserted complex located west of Chattanooga along Interstate 24. Through the series, she takes viewers from a distance, where they can see the steel bones of a once imposing building, to within inches of peeled paint, fallen bricks and rusted siding. “I love the palpable textures of old buildings,” she says.
The theme of obsolescence is curiously absent from Arthur’s paintings of the Longholm Estate, which she did prior to the demolition of the North Shore house. The dwelling is empty, but looks warm and inviting. In several of the paintings, Arthur paid special attention to the intricate stonework that made up the exterior of the house. A demolition crew leveled the building to clear the way for condominiums. Through the painting, she seems to say, “Can you believe they tore this place down?”
Arthur has loved art for as long as she can remember. When she was young, she would sidle up to her grandfather, who would give her pencils and sketchbooks and encourage her to “just draw.” He had become an artist following his retirement at age 60, and taught her you are only too old to do something once you believe you are.
Arthur also developed a keen interest in architecture at an early age. To express her budding passion for structural design, she would draw blueprints on the back of advertising calendars her father would bring home from the newspaper at which he worked. Today, she centers her paintings of buildings and other structures on their geometry. Lines intercept to create angles, shadows of other buildings invade the frame, and Arthur pays as much attention to negative space, such as an empty sky, as she does the structures themselves.
“I have been to Italy a couple of times, and the buildings there fascinated me almost as much as the artwork inside of them,” Arthur says.
Art was not Arthur’s first profession. Until she was well into her fifties, she worked full-time as a dental hygienist. But, like her grandfather, Arthur never gave up on her ambition to be a painter, and in 2000, she began studying art at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her attraction to old buildings sprouted while she was a student.
“Across the street from the fine arts building was a church and a rectory. They were going to tear them both down, but I thought the house was beautiful, so I took a photograph of it and then painted some pictures of it,” Arthur says.
Arthur graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 2003, and in 2006, she joined In-Town Gallery, a cooperative art gallery located on Frazier Avenue. As she developed a body of work, she realized her art was telling her she had problems with aging. “I realized I needed to deal with my issues about getting older and feeling obsolete. I feel strongly about honoring these buildings, and the rust and the bubbling paint, but I don’t honor my own wrinkles and lifelines. But because there’s value in these buildings, there’s value in me,” she says.
Other people around town see value in Arthur’s work. In addition to In-Town Gallery, the Small Business Development Center and 1800 Main have pieces of hers on display, and she has sold a number of paintings to Chattanooga businesses.
Wherever Arthur’s paintings are hung, and whatever she paints moving forward, she hopes to communicate a message about the inherent value in all people, including the aging. If the buildings, as dilapidated as they are, still have something to say, how much more value does a human being have?
View examples of Arthur’s work at www.gayarthur.com.