Art of Bing: Real Time Journeys

Charleston has always been an art city. But some of its most important art might not be hanging where you expect to find it.

It might be sitting in somebody’s living room while the paint is still drying. It might be at a pop-up, inside a coffee shop, on the side of a building, in a classroom, or being created late at night after an artist gets home from their day job.
I know that life because I’ve lived it.

I’m Demetrius Bing, an abstract artist from Charleston, and art has taken me places I never imagined. But before the exhibitions, collectors, magazine features, and opportunities, there was simply the need to create. There were blank walls, supplies, ideas, and the belief that if I kept working, eventually somebody would see what I saw.

That journey changed the way I look at Charleston’s art scene.
There is so much talent here.

Some artists have gallery representation. Some are selling their work at markets and pop-ups. Some are painting murals. Some are teaching our children. Some are creating after working eight hours somewhere else. And some incredible artist is probably sitting at home right now wondering whether anybody will ever notice their work.

I want this column to help us notice.
I want to introduce you to artists you may not know yet. I want to talk about exhibitions, public art, galleries, schools, collectors and the business behind being creative. I also want to have some of the harder conversations: What does it actually take to survive as an artist? Are we supporting local artists or simply celebrating them? How do we create more opportunities? And how do we make sure the next generation believes an artistic career is possible?

I’m not writing this as somebody standing outside of the art world looking in.
I’m in it.
I’m learning, creating, failing, selling, experimenting, meeting people and figuring it out alongside everybody else.
That’s the perspective I want to bring here.

Charleston doesn’t need to become a creative city.
It already is one.
We just have to pay attention.
Welcome to the art scene.

 Demetrius Bing
Art of Bing