Chapel Hill artist brings “Surreal Geometric Abstraction” to River Arts District
BY Glenn Garson
Warren Hicks chuckles, as he explains how life has poured him another wonderful adventure.
Warren is off to Macedonia next month, invited by the National Gallery of Macedonia, to attend the Art Colony at Kicevo, Macedonia. While Warren may be out of the country, a sample of his current works will be featured at Bella Vista Art, in the River Arts District, with an opening reception July 7, 5-8pm at 240 Clingman Avenue.
Hicks took some time out to talk to me about his art. “I have combined my personal inner angst with the geometric foundations from my work in architecture to created a style I call ‘Surreal Geometric Abstraction.’” Hicks’ vision combines striking colors and textural depth with an affinity for the Surrealists Ernst and Tanguy and the Abstractionists Kandinsky and Klee. “My paintings are very personal projections of the twisted thoughts churning in my head. Everyone sees something different so I leave the interpretations to the observer,” he says as we stroll through the gallery.
I asked Hicks why he chose Asheville to showcase his art.
“I’ve had great success in the Triangle area but I wanted to branch out. Asheville has a great reputation as the newest ‘hot spot’ art destination and Christin Zelenka, the gallery director at Bella Vista, has been really fun to work with.” Then he adds, “I love going to their openings because you get this great eclectic mix of local and national artists, mixing with the crowd, who are great to talk to, and really have some great insight and experience.”
Hicks’ works, as well as new glass pieces by Glass Artist Judson Guerard, and new Landscapes by Karen Weiles will be on display in the River Arts District during July at Bella Vista Art Gallery (www.bellavistaart.com).
________________________________________________________
Artistic vision
BY Doug Stuber
…..Fellow Studio Tour artist Warren Anthony Hicks is also a hot ticket in the Triangle art scene. Hicks’ widening fan base bought all but one of his works during the OCAG Studio Tour. “I was stunned really,” Hicks says. “I’m not over it yet.”
Perhaps Hicks’ shock came from the fact that he’s only been in the area a little over two years, or that he’s only been painting for two years. Or maybe it has something to do with what pushed Hicks to paint in the first place.
“In late 2001, I had a panic attack and did not know what I was going to do with my life,” he says. “So I bought a watercolor set. Once I started painting, life made sense. When I didn’t get accepted into a painting class at UNC-Chapel Hill, I taught myself. I sold my drum set and gave away the rest of my music equipment so I wouldn’t have any distractions.”
The 38-year-old self-taught painter has proven to be adaptable in many ways. After studying architectural design, Hicks worked in the music industry for 12 years, then taught himself computer graphics. A former record store clerk, he worked his way up in the industry, later becoming the founder of a company that published music biographies, with over 1,200 distribution titles. “I got a great CD collection out of those years, but [I] still wasn’t satisfied,” he says.
In July 2004, Hicks’ work went public when he was commissioned to design the poster for the Cary Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival. The poster and original art were big sellers, and Hicks landed exhibits in local gallery spaces, including Helios, Port City Java and the Red Hat headquarters. His work was also included in the Implements and Silhouettes exhibit at Carrboro’s Bleecker Street Gallery.
Hicks likes to call his style of art, which uses textured graphics and warm palletes, “surreal geometric abstraction.” “I use an undercoat of four or five layers of acrylic that are made up of 15 to 20 colors brushed on with a brush that I cut up to make the layers more random,” he says. “I place my design over this and scrape off the top layer of oil to bring the multicolored undercoat back up.”
Hicks is determined to make art in his way, but he is also stimulated by critiques. When he applied to exhibit at a 2003 show at Glance Gallery, he was told by Jason Craighed that a painting lacked depth. “He was right,” Hicks says. “The painting he was looking at really was flat.” This compelled Hicks to start to “float” his triangles and spheres in a three-dimensional way, and think about lighting and shading as well
Both new approaches show up in “Spectator Tots Catch Up,” where well-lit spheres bounce at different heights above slabs of differing depths. There is more depth in “Aurora Borealis in Wonderland” too, where the broken edges of the inverted pyramid add enough 3-D to keep your eyes moving across the canvas.
“I’m happy people like my art,” Hicks says, smiling. “I don’t know whether I am breaking any rules, because I never learned the rules.”
The artists’ works can be viewed by appointment, or on their Web sites. E-mail Hicks at mail@warrenhicks.com , call 919-967-3921 or visit www.warrenhicks.com.
Copyright The Independent Weekly, Wednesday, November 24, 2004
_______________________________________________________
Artist reflects festival’s ‘world of art’ in poster
BY Lea Hart, Correspondent
Chapel Hill artist Warren Anthony Hicks feels time was on his side when he applied to design this year’s Lazy Daze Arts & Crafts Festival poster.
The Town of Cary put out a “call to artists” to submit ideas for the poster in early February and artists had eight weeks to respond, but Hicks did not hear about the contest until just a few days before the deadline.
Hicks, 38, considers himself lucky to have found out about it in time enough to enter,
“Timing and luck were definitely on my side,” he said.
Six artists submitted proposals for consideration, according to Joy Cox, festival coordinator for the Town of Cary. She said Hicks’ innovative style lent a fresh look to the Lazy Daze poster.
This year’s poster is the latest in a series of four that began with the event’s 25th anniversary poster.
“He had a different style than we’ve ever had before,” Cox said. “We just felt he had a very dynamic style.”
Initially, Hicks said he was unsure of what to do for the poster, “I went to the festival site to try and get a feel for the location and atmosphere and started thinking of a grid pattern to represent the outdoor and street aspects,” he said, “Then I started working on the theme of ‘a world of art’ because of the massive size that the festival has become.”
Hicks said he felt it was impossible to represent all of the different artistic disciplines featured at Lazy Daze, which includes 400-odd artists, so he focused on what he considered to be the three most prominent: painting, sculpture and ceramics.
He spent six consecutive weeks working on the final version of the poster – two working on the design and four painting.
The result: a brightly colored, abstract piece that he entitled “ City of the Arts, Worlds Apart.”
“The smaller spheres winding through the grid, (Which represents the streets), in different colors represent the flow and diversity of the large crowds in attendance,” Hicks said of the final product. “The last detail is the object in the upper left-hand corner – I’ll leave that up to interpretation, but so far I’ve heard others describe it as a sun, falling star or satellite. My intention was to have it emphasize the otherworldliness of the rest of the design.”
The Lazy Daze honor adds to what has already been a very successful year for a man relatively new to his life as a full-time artist.
Born and raised in Chickasha, Okla., Hicks studied architectural design at Oklahoma State University. He spent 12 years in the music industry before returning to design and architecture.
While working at an architectural firm in Columbia, S.C., he began exploring freelance graphic and Web design, producing projects for clients all over the South.
It was not until 2000, when he and his wife moved to Chapel Hill, that Hicks began to focus on art. Completely self-taught, he began painting in 2002, developing a unique style he describes as “surreal geometric abstraction.”
This year, his works have been on display in Raleigh at the Red Hat corporate headquarters, Helios Coffee on Glenwood Avenue and Port City Java on Fayetteville Street Mall.
Hicks also had two paintings selected for the Fine Arts League of Cary’s 10th Annual Juried Exhibition in April, and in May, won a regional competition for the American Dance Festival, with an original design chosen to be used on children’s T-shirts for the 2004 and future festivals.
In July and early August, he was featured as part of a four-man show, “Implements and Silhouettes,” at Bleecker Street Gallery in Carrboro. He was the only painter featured with three Triangle-area sculptors.
In addition, Hicks’ works have been purchased online for private collections all over the East Coast, as well as a recent sale of two paintings to SAS Institute.
“This year has been amazing,” he said. “It’s all the more rewarding to be respected for creating art that I love and to have it appreciated by others. I don’t want to fall into the trap of producing art just because I think it will sell.”
Hicks will receive a $500 commission for the Lazy Daze work as well as booth space at the festival. The poster is used throughout promotional materials for Lazy Daze and posters, and T-shirts bearing the poster design will be for sale before and during the festival.
Hicks will sign posters and T-shirts at Lazy Daze. His booth is C302.
Copyright The Cary News, Thursday, August 26, 2004
_______________________________________________________
Local Artist Champions Internet
CHAPEL HILL – Chapel Hill painter Warren Hicks is having his first public exhibition since selling all of last year’s paintings during the Orange County Studio Tour in November 2004. Hicks will be exhibiting at Side Street Gallery in Pittsboro during the month of August along with Carrboro painter Forest Steel.
Hicks uses an innovative email system to market his paintings nationally to previous customers and art enthusiasts. After the completion of each new painting, Hicks sends the image to his email lists of local and national members. Hicks’ last two paintings both sold within 48 hours of the images being e-mailed. “It’s the best method of effectively exposing my art to the people that have already shown an interest, says Hicks. “By sending your art out over the Internet, you are able to reach fans between shows and those that don’t always go to a gallery. If you send them one painting a month, they won’t forget you or your work. Besides, people love having original art delivered to their Inbox.”
Prior to the Side Street Gallery exhibition, Hicks will debut a redesign of his popular website, www.warrenhicks.com. This website will feature all of his new works to be included in the show as well as a broad selection of his most popular paintings.
Warren Hicks was born and raised in Chickasha, Oklahoma, home of the near-illustrious “Fighting Chicks.” He studied Architectural Design at Oklahoma State University. Prior to graduation, he fled Oklahoma’s much acclaimed diversity to explore opportunities within the music and publishing industries in Miami, Florida. Warren spent 12 years in the music industry before returning to design and architecture. While working at a prestigious architectural firm in Columbia, South Carolina, Warren began exploring freelance graphic and web design, producing many successful projects for clients all over the South.
For more information, contact Warren Hicks at mail@warrenhicks.com, call 919-967-3921 or visit www.warrenhicks.com. Side Street Gallery at 919-545-3033; info@sidestreet-gallery.com.
Copyright Southern Neighbor, August 2005.
____________________________________________________
After Only Three Years, Painter Warren Hicks Has Made Artistic Mark
BY Milburn Gibbs
Warren Hicks has a nearly unique problem among artists. He sells everything he paints within a few days by sending out email images of his newest work.
He will do the occasional show when he has enough art to exhibit. Generally, he has to work diligently to get enough artwork to even display.
He and P. Forrest Steel are currently on display in a two-man show at Side Street Gallery in downtown Pittsboro through September 4.
Warren Hicks featured at Side Street…Mixed media artist Warren Hicks of Chapel Hill (shown with one of his paintings) is featured with artist P. Forrest Steel at the Side Street Gallery in downtown Pittsboro for the month of August. His has only been painting full time since 2002, when he moved to this area. His use of bright colors is one attraction that draws eyes to his work.
“I have always been attracted to color,Hicks said at the reception on August 12. I want my art to pop off the canvas. I try to contrast my colors of my designs to the background.”
Hicks uses acrylic for backgrounds and oil pastels for the foreground images on his mixed media works. The acrylic gives a glossy sheen while the oils have a matte finish look.
This has been a medium that was trial-and-error for him at first.
Hicks and his wife, Martha, moved here in 2000. She was hired by SAS in Cary and he was between jobs. In 2002, he started to paint full-time.
“I have been amazingly well received, Hicks said. I have sold every painting I have done in the last two years.”
He will be on the Orange County Open Studio Tour for the second time this year. He sold out the Tour last year.
“I email an image of my latest painting out within a day or two of finishing it, and lately I have been selling them within two days,” he explained.
Always a creative man, Hicks wrote and recorded his own music when the couple lived in Florida but since has focused entirely in painting.
“Art is the most satisfying of everything I have done creatively,” he said. “I’ve always had the need to immerse myself in art.”
Philosophically, he understands what he sees in a painting is not what someone else will see in it. “Paintings have to speak for themselves,” he admitted. You need to be honest in art.”
His website is: www.warrenhicks.com
Copyright The Chatham Record, August 18, 2005
