August 6 and 7 - Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz

Gallery Pantone 278
Thursday and Friday , August 6 and 7, 6:00-9:00pm
Charlotte Trolley Powerhouse Museum, 1507 Camden Road

I am very excited about my upcoming show on August 6 and 7 at Gallery Pantone 278. Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz are a wife and husband duo of photographers from Hickory, North Carolina. I met Sally and James at their studio in downtown Hickory after a tip from Robert Bush of the Arts & Science Council. Sally and James are incredible people who take beautiful photos, and I am sure you will not only enjoy their work, but getting to know them.

Artist Statement

Our work reflects our need to slow down and breathe in the places we live and pass by. We pause and pay attention to the peripheral and incidental moments as intuitively and honestly as possible, allowing art to create itself. Sometimes we sit still on site and see what emerges. Other times we ‘ride around’ and record from vehicle windows. Sometimes objects from the past (a red slip) are carried along introduced with abandon. The resulting images are about the process of being present, of noticing what is going on, of giving our full attention, and then moving along. Each image represents a deep breath, a time of being still, a moment complete in itself.

Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz

Sally Fanjoy and James Labrenz are photographic artists living and working in Hickory, North Carolina and have collaborated in life and art for 25 years.

James is an autodidact who introduced Sally to photography in 1975 before she moved to New York City where she worked for 14 years and studied at the International Center for Photography.

Their work has been shown extensively in galleries and museums from the Highland Gallery in Atlanta to the Center for the Arts at the Hill School in Pennsylvania, and most recently the Hickory Museum of Art, the Wilkes Art Gallery and the Caldwell Arts Council. They were recently awarded for the second time the Innovative Artist's Grant from the United Arts Council of Catawba County to create an installation titled "The Spirit of the Place and the Soul of Catawba County" along with poet Dr. Rand Brandes.

In 1989 the couple opened a studio in Hickory and in 2004 moved to a renovated 1930’s garage studio/gallery space in downtown which has become a place to showcase their own photography as well as that of other local artists. The Fanjoy-Labrenz studio also serves as a venue for occasional musical and theatre groups in need of space to perform.

Sally and James’ collaborative effort is one that enables both artists to pursue their own ideas and encourage one another. They both sign each piece, regardless of who creates it, with both names - fanjoy-labrenz.