Local Artist Greig Leach at C’est Le Vin
C’est Le Vin is one of the newest additions to Shockoe Bottom. One side of their space is wine shop, the other side: an enviably large, airy gallery space. Reasonable pricing and a passion for their work has brought many customers to them already.
C’est Le Vin is one of the newest additions to Shockoe Bottom. One side of their space is wine shop, the other side: an enviably large, airy gallery space. Reasonable pricing and a passion for their work has brought many customers to them already.
From their press release:
At Shockoe’s newest establishment, a match-up of two things seemed destined, art and wine, a local artist is shining. C’est Le Vin is very proud to have their doors open and to be featuring Greig Leach, a past VMFA Professional Fellowship recipient, who has also been a Visiting Artist to the American Academy in Rome.
Owners Genet Semere and Ghermay Woldeab hand-choose every wine and offer weekly tastings on Fridays and Saturdays at 5:30pm.
“We want to feature local artists that can and have made an impact in the community, it’s what we hope to do with our business moving forward,” said Semere.
C’est Le Vin’s month-long feature of Greig Leach will open this Friday, June 11, from 5pm to 9pm. At Saturday’s tasting, they will feature South African wines for the opener of the World Cup.
About his art, Leach shares, “The work is about color and to that end the medium necessitates that all of the color is created right on the surface of the painting… This approach allows me to let go of the specific pictorial demands of model and local color and frees the painting to develop within the needs of the pictorial space and color. In other words, I let the painting paint itself.”
Leach’s opening will coincide with the second Shockoe Wide Open Art and Food Walk. Shockoe Wide Open is working to develop a “Second Fridays,” to encourage Richmonders to come to the River District for art and other happenings and to experience downtown. When I attended last month, I was disappointed to discover there was not much visibly occurring (or at least not in real walking proximity). The program is new, so I hope it gains momentum.
It seems the new kid on the block, C’est Le Vin, will be a driving force in that, since last month they had a hearty crowd for their art show and wine/beer tasting. Urban Farmhouse also featured an art show of high school students, nibbles from their kitchen, and a local musician. Café Gutenberg offered wine tastings too. Shockoe Wide Open’s Facebook page encourages local businesses to advertise their events. This month, Dransfield Jewelers is giving away a $100 gift card and a Moonstone and the art show, Captive Freedom by inmate artist Kevin Greene is showing at The Whitley Gallery at 29 N. 17th Street
The event area covers East Cary at 12th Street to East Main Street at 21st. Free transportation is provided downtown by the To The Bottom and Back Bus, which runs a continuous loop between Ellwood Thompson’s and The Market at Tobacco Row. See their website for more details.
C’ Est Le Vin Art & Wine Gallery
15 North 17th Street
804-649-9463
(Photo courtesy of C’est Le Vin)
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Holly Gordon
Holly Gordon spends her days working with Richmond’s hearty nonprofit community and her nights singing in a community chorus. She loves her feminist book club, and is always distracted by shiny things.
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Greig Leach is everybody’s favorite bartender from The White Dog, which is closing June 26th. Let’s show this guy some support at this show and wherever he winds up after The White Dog closes.