Show Preview | Southeastern Wildlife Exposition

Charleston, SC
Various locations, February 14-16

Vivian Boswell, Rocky Top, oil, 20 x 20.

This story was featured in the February 2020 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art February 2020 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story.

WHEN THE ANNUAL Southeastern Wildlife Exposition—widely known by its acronym, SEWE—debuted in 1983, its primary goal was to present some of the finest wildlife art being created, exhibiting the work of about 100 artists and attracting 5,000 visitors. Since that time it has evolved to embrace far more than art, expanding to include a wide range of exhibitors from the conservation and sporting worlds, and it now attracts some 40,000 attendees. Still, “the wildlife art remains the heart and soul of the show,” says Natalie Henderson, its art curator since 2010.

That’s no wonder, considering the range and volume of artworks on display in the SEWE Fine Art Gallery, which occupies the entire second-floor ballroom and grand hallway of the Charleston Place Hotel in downtown Charleston. About 100 painters, sculptors, and carvers exhibit approximately 2,500 to 3,000 total works. Attendees can peruse and purchase the art on all three days of the show.

: Walter Matia, A Point of Honor, bronze, 14 x 20 x 12.

: D. Eleinne Basa, Highland Pasture, oil, 10 x 10.

: Stefan Savides, Pins and Curl, bronze, 33 x 33 x 26.

Beyond the sheer volume of art on display, notes Henderson, two key factors set SEWE dramatically apart from other such exhibitions. “First, all of the artists are present, helping to establish rich relationships between them and their collectors. And second, each of them brings a really comprehensive body of their work. We encourage them to paint or sculpt year-round for our show.” As a result, she continues, “Nothing compares to the energy and excitement you feel when you walk into the gallery.”

With so many different artists bringing broad assortments of their recent creations, the variety of wildlife art is nothing short of dazzling. For just a few examples, Henderson points out HIGHLAND PASTURE, an atmospheric oil of grazing sheep by New Jersey-based D. Eleinne Basa; ROCKY TOP, a luminous portrait of a fox by Vivian Boswell, who hails from Missouri; A POINT OF HONOR, a bronze depicting a pair of hunting dogs in action by Maryland sculptor Walter Matia; and INDIGO BLUES, an image of a fawn by Kathryn Turner from Jackson, WY, created so delicately in oils on rag paper that it recalls traditional Japanese brushwork. Among several noteworthy artists attending from abroad, Stephen Townley Bassett of South Africa creates mixed-media images on paper that impeccably capture the raw vitality of primitive rock and cave art.

Such high-quality variety suggests yet another vital aspect of the event that keeps collectors returning year after year. “If you have any sort of interest in or passion for wildlife or the outdoors,” Henderson sums up, “you can come to the SEWE Fine Art Gallery and find that in a work of art.” —Norman Kolpas

contact information
843.723.1748
www.sewe.com