Join members of the Long Table Poets of Charleston, SC for a reading of ekphrastic poems inspired by the work of artist Linda Fantuzzo. Her current exhibition, Linda Fantuzzo: Penumbra, is on view January 18 through March 1 at City Gallery at Waterfront Park.

Fantuzzo is known for capturing the mysterious qualities of light on canvas and has utilized this throughout her career to create atmosphere, mood and narrative. The more than fifty landscape and interior paintings and large-format drawings in this exhibition are rendered with a quiet, abstracted simplicity, while the inclusion of stairs, ladders, windows and doors suggest an unseen yet palpable human presence. The title Penumbra is a term referencing light’s transitions. The artist states: “Light – bright, low, or poetic can imbue the image with a sense that something has happened or will momentarily occur.“ In these works, Fantuzzo connects the literal transitions of light, always shifting and changing, to the metaphorical transitions and impermanence of the human experience.

As an additional component to the project, the artist collaborates with the Long Table Poets of Charleston, SC, for inclusion of new poetry in the exhibition. Fantuzzo invited the poets to join her in an ekphrasis project. “Description” in Greek, an ekphrastic poem is a vivid description of a scene or, more commonly, a work of art. Through the imaginative act of narrating and reflecting on the “action” of a painting or sculpture, the poet may amplify and expand its meaning.