This Southern Idiom exhibition celebrates the work of Julian Semilian, an experimental filmmaker, film editor, teacher, poet, translator, and novelist based in Winston-Salem.

On View Now

ABOUT FAIRY TALES FROM THE INSUBSTANTIAL

Beneath the current imperatives, these digitally kinetic paintings wager on the knowledge to be gained from the Unknown and the Unexpected. Bereft of the quotidian contamination with didactically dictated pedagogy, bereft even of conscious intent, they aimlessly aim to trigger in you, honorable viewer, unexpected states of enigma and delight... if one were only prepared.

5 digital paintings are included in the exhibition, view all of them in the video below. These works include:

Naive Fish ArtEmploying a gestural mantra, boy attempts to return dark object to its lost brilliance, but without paying due reverence to the ever-escorting abyss.

The System | Unforeseen formation of new galaxy erupts from coalitions of objects and concepts whose quotidian function dissolves to overwhelming profundity.

Alchemy | Shamed secrets alchemically commingle to forge primordial hermetic symbols.

Incipience | A family of fish swims in sea of possibilities which combine to produce the incipience of a questionable future.

Don Juan the Younger | The history of Mystery and Hidden Desires is martyred on the altar of the discovery of cinema.

ABOUT JULIAN SEMILIAN

Julian Semilian is an experimental filmmaker, film editor, teacher, poet, translator, and novelist. He was born in Romania and has been teaching film editing and experimental cinema at the University North Carolina School of the Arts, School of Filmmaking, for over two decades, following a career as a film editor in Hollywood, where he worked on more than 50 movies and TV shows. 

About Southern Idiom

Located in SECCA's Preview Gallery, Southern Idiom is a new series that explores local artists and the variety of forms they produce. Past artists include Frank Campion, Kevin Calhoun, Eric Juth, Laura Lashley, Travis Philips, and Cindy Taplin. Artwork in the series is for sale, and proceeds benefit both the artist and SECCA's exhibition fund.