KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) — Five exhibitions are opening at The Emporium in May, according to the Arts & Culture Alliance.
The Arts & Culture Alliance will be hosting events for people to be able to see the new exhibitions from May 5-26. A free gathering will happen on the first day, from 5-9 p.m. and features live music inside the Emporium by Vance Thompson Quartet.
Our Walk
This exhibition focuses on the two people during their walk around Lenoir City. According to the news release, Barb Johnson and Susan Miller covered almost 80 acres of farmland to watch the seasonal changes in weather conditions and vegetation.
“There is abundant evidence of wildlife in the fields, woods and along the gravel roads. We pass farm animals, plants and trees, new and deteriorating structures, and regularly used or abandoned farm equipment, elements we express in our artworks,” Johnson and Miller said in the news release.
Johnson and Miller are both a part of the alliance in Group 21. They painted the places they saw on their Lenoir City walk.
(Work by Susan Miller, left, and by Barb Johnson, right)
Re-Pair/Re-Connect
This exhibition is associated with the state-wide Tennessee Triennial for Contemporary Art. It features a group of artists offering a variety of responses to the theme “Re-Pair/Re-Connect.”
The artists are members of A1LabArts, a nonprofit, Knoxville-based arts organization founded in 1995.
This theme can be interpreted broadly to reference ideas such as ongoing post-pandemic renewal of public interactions of community events.
Water Spirits on the North Wall
A Kansas artist discovered the clear, clean waters of Tennessee and wanted to make the area her home. Lynda Best is an original impressionistic, contemporary artist of nature spirits.
She developed her own style showing the “frozen moment.” Meaning that when time stops, we’re a witness to nature, and it fills us with a sense of wonder and awe, according to the news release.
Best used modern impressionistic style to capture the moment with acrylic by using entrancing outlines and colors to freeze the continual, everchanging movement of nature.
I’ve been painting in the display case
The piece has a strong composition and contains a range of tonal values from darks and lights, according to the news release.
Allen Monsarrat said he managed to complete an underpainting using only burnt sienna. He also concentrated on colors and brush application, determining whether to make brush strokes apparent. He originally does photorealism but this piece had a more “painterly feel.”
“Creating a painting is always an exciting journey, as I am never quite sure whether it will be as successful as I have envisioned it in my mind,” he said in the news release.
Melancholy’s Epiphany in the Atrium
This watercolor painting has several infractions, labels and assumptions. The piece has been created by Tracye Sowders, who has various media like watercolor, oils, pens, and ink.
“The golden thread of sheer existence that binds us to one another and with the universe pulls me further onward through this exploration of color, light, trickery and enchantment. I am inspired to create pieces that convey freedom of spirit. I paint about the light that settles in our souls and the idea that there is a natural touchstone for all of us as humans,” she said in the news release.
