The Stokes County Arts Council announced an upcoming exhibit of original pottery and fractal art by Hal Tenny of Hal Yeah Pottery will be in the Apple Gallery during July.
An in-person opening will be held on Friday, July 9, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. in the Apple Gallery of the Stokes County Arts Council, 500 Main Street, Danbury, N.C.
Tenny is currently retired and spends most of his time creating art and reading. He is an avid science fiction fan and has written and published two novels, two short story collections, and several single short stories that are available on Amazon and Kindle books. He also enjoys woodworking and has a complete woodworking shop that shares space with his pottery studio. He and his wife currently live in Danbury with their son and daughter and two grandchildren.
The images in this show are of various themes, though for the most part, Tenny’s work is science fiction and fantasy based. He also has some abstract and organic like images being exhibited. They are all fractals created with a combination of math formulas and adjustments of their given variables. In some images he has composited into the work real life objects and plants to create surreal images.
A portion of his pottery is traditional such as plates, bowls and coffee mugs, but he also likes to manipulate clay into unique designs, almost like sculpturing.
“Clay can sometimes be UN-cooperative, and it takes a certain patience to get what my mind comes up with. I like to create potter that almost seems alive,” said Tenny.
Over the years, Tenny has received several awards and recognitions for his work, including a best of show award at the Hammondsport Art Festival in New York. His fractal work was selected as one of the 25 winners in the Benoit Mandelbrott Fractal art Contest 2011. That same fractal piece was chosen by the editor as the cover art for the magazine REDES.
Tenny participated in an invitation only digital art exhibition in May 2011, sponsored by Paper New England. The event was titled The Digital Palette and was held at the Artspace Gallery in Hartford, CT. In 2017, Tenny’s fractal art was featured prominently in the Marvel film, “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 2.” Much of his fractal work was further conceptualized by other concept artists as well as four or more visual effects companies. His art appeared exclusively on the planet ‘Ego’ and was used in part to create ‘Ego’s’ palace, various floor and wall designs, as well as furniture and separate bedroom buildings. Much of the underground caverns were almost entirely based on his fractal work. Tenny received onscreen credit as a concept artist for his work.
This exhibit will be on display through July 31st. The Stokes County Arts Council is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday 1 to 6 p.m. For additional information, contact the Stokes County Arts Council at (336) 593-8159 or visit www.stokesarts.org.
