Arendt is finalist for art prize

Conway artist Jim Arendt, director of the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery at Coastal Carolina University, is one of the three finalists for the 701 Center for Contemporary Art Prize 2012 in Columbia.

James Busby of Chapin and Tonya Gregg of Hopkins were the other finalists.

The prize is a competition and exhibition for South Carolina artists. Its purpose is to identify and recognize young artists 40 and under whose work is exemplary in its originality, shows awareness of artistic developments and is of high artistic merit.

The three finalists’ work will be shown in the 701 CCA Prize 2012 Exhibition, which will open Thursday, Nov. 1, with a reception. The winner of the 701 CCA Prize 2012 will be announced during a special event at the center on Thursday, Nov. 29.

The finalists were selected by an independent jury consisting of Lilly Wei, a prominent New York City art critic and curator; Paul Bright, the director of the Hanes Gallery at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C.; and Karen Watson, the director of the Sumter County Gallery of Art in Sumter.

The 701 CCA Prize winner will receive a six-week, paid residency at 701 CCA; consultation services from a professional advertising and marketing firm; a solo exhibition at 701 CCA; and an ad in a national publication.

Arendt is a native of Flint, Mich., who earned an MFA with a concentration in painting from the University of South Carolina in Columbia. His current work explores the shifting paradigms of labor and place through slightly three-dimensional, wall-mounted, narrative cut denim renderings of figures. Arendt was included in last year’s 701 CCA South Carolina Biennial and recently had a solo exhibition at the Pickens County (S.C.) Museum of Art and History. Last year, he was awarded “Best of Show” at the Emerging Carolina exhibition at Hub-Bub Gallery in Spartanburg.