Damian Stamer: Unseen (Reception)

For Triangle residents, the works of the accomplished local painter Damian Stamer thrive on the pleasure of seeing familiar things in new ways, from his deeply textured portrait of former North Carolina Museum of Art director Larry Wheeler to his photorealist but somehow still-abstract gray-scale images of tobacco barns. In Unseen, Stamer’s first exhibit exclusively comprised of works on paper, the focus remains regional—see the evocative “Horry County” pictured here—but the medium shifts from oils to watercolors (not to mention works that integrate painting, drawing, and lithography). Sharp perspective marks these views of local landscapes and forgotten interiors, which coalesce from abstract storms of marks, like visible traces of time. As usual, Stamer finds the hidden soul of abandoned places and evokes their complex histories. After this opening reception, the exhibit runs through November 2.