FLORENCE — Florence artist Robert Garey thinks it’s cool to have an exhibition of his paintings at the Francis Marion University’s Steven F. Gately Gallery, which is named for his longtime friend and mentor.
Garey will have his narrative paintings displayed at the Gately Gallery in downtown Florence through Oct. 20.
The exhibition — entitled Robert Garey: Life and Times — is a visual telling of Garey’s life. It includes portraits, narratives and scenes that encapsulate the artist’s life and experiences.
“The stories I’m telling are pretty much autobiographical,” Garey said.
Garey studied under Gately From 1973-74. He was one of Gately’s first students. Gately was only a couple of years older than Garey.
“I like that quite a bit. I wish he was here to have been able to see it,” he said.
FMU’s downtown Florence art gallery was named for Steven Gately in early 2022. Gately was the longest serving member of the university’s Fine Arts Faculty when he died suddenly on Nov. 12, 2021.
He started teaching at Francis Marion University in 1973, just two years after the university’s founding.
“Steve and I remained friends up until his death here,” Garey said. “He visited me up in New York. When I came to town we’d get together, so I was among his first students and also a lifetime friend as a result of that, so I knew Steve real well. He was very supportive of my work as an artist.”
Born in Virginia, Garey moved to Florence when he was in first grade. In 1986, Garey left for New York to study the paintings of the Metropolitan Museum and returned to Florence in 2011 where he has been painting since.
“The paintings — the artwork— that I am influenced by primarily are the great masters of the Renaissance paintings and narrative tales where they were painting Biblical tales and the Greek and Roman myths — that narrative work by the great masters,” Garey said.
Garey said he wanted to be an artist since childhood.
Throughout his life he has always done painting of some sort such as when he was a sign painter, mural painter and scenic film painter.
“I know that I’m blessed to have been given a gift by the good Lord; to have been able to lead a life with a passion that I could indulge myself in and that I have actually been able to support myself with,” Garey said. “I’m aware that I’m a very fortunate individual to have been able to live a life supported by and involved in something that I’m passionate about.”
Garey teaches art two times a week at a nursing home where he recently gave a student some information on mixing paints to achieve skin tone colors that he learned from Gately.
On top of painting, Garey is a musician and plays both the fiddle and guitar.
For a long time Garey had a “false notion” that his music and art conflicted with each other. He found he only had time for one or another. Now Garey has found a way to combine the two.
During the exhibition’s grand opening the night of Sept. 7, Garey demonstrated how he gets into his paintings by grabbing his guitar and playing Pretty Polly alongside the painting he wrote to compliment the song.
“There’s a large series of paintings where I am illustrating the musician as well as an artist, and I love the bluegrass songs, country songs, the Appalachian valleys,” Garey said. “I’ve painted a whole series of paintings that depicted the stories in those Appalachian valleys.”
Alongside Garey’s paintings in the exhibit are a collection of photographs of him taken from the early 70s to 2023 by his friend and colleague Sidney Glass. Glass studied alongside Garey in Steven Gately’s class and the two have remained friends.
Garey says he owes his exhibit in large part to Gallery Coordinator Dawn Fenimore.
For those unable to attend in person, a 360-degree tour is available on the gallery’s website.
At 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Sept. 23, Garey will give a walking tour of his artwork where he explains the meaning behind each piece.
