The Hunter Museum will present The Hunter Invitational IV, an exhibition that highlights artwork being created in the region. The Hunter began the Invitational exhibition series in 2007 to recognize and promote noteworthy artwork from the area, while engaging in a dialogue about how artmaking here mirrors that of the national scene.
This fourth iteration of the Invitational features the work of Amanda Brazier, Tara Hamilton, Mindy Herrin, Charles Ladson, Sisavanh Phouthavong, John Douglas Powers, Andrew Scott Ross, and Vadis Turner.
Whether emerging or established, each artist in the exhibition expands the boundaries of their chosen mediums through innovative approaches, techniques, and subjects. The artists were chosen over the course of a year, as Chief Curator Nandini Makrandi visited numerous studios around east and middle Tennessee, north Georgia and north Alabama.
The exhibition will showcase new works and give visitors an opportunity in the “discovery” of artists from their own communities. The Hunter Invitational IV opens Friday, Sept. 21. The opening reception and exhibit preview on Thursday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m. will allow museum guests the opportunity to meet all the artists.
Below is a quick snapshot and review of each of the artists. To learn more about them and view images of their work, visit www.huntermuseum.org/hunter-invitational-2018.
Hailing from Chattanooga, Amanda Brazier mixes her own paints from pigments processed from the soils near her home, creating rhythmic paintings that consider man’s interactions with his environment.
Tara Hamilton, a comic book and digital artist from Chattanooga, is currently working with writer Alison Burke on an ongoing comic book series, ARRO, set in a post-apocalyptic North America.
Mindy Herrin is a metalwork artist and sculptor whose intricate works incorporate figures and images inspired by nature. Through her work, she explores themes of growth, fertility, disease, and preservation. She is from Johnson City, Tn.
From Macon, Ga., Charles Ladson creates paintings featuring unusual juxtapositions of textures, colors, and shadows to suggest unspoken stories.
Sisavanh Phouthavong, a painter from Murfreesboro, Tn., explores issues of migration while seeking to raise awareness about the history of the Vietnam War-era bombing in Laos.
Sculptor John Douglas Powers juxtaposes solid, tangible materials with the ephemerality of movement, sound and time in his kinetic sculptures. His inspirations range from classical mythology and Buddhist philosophy to technology, music and geometry. He’s from Knoxville.
Andrew Scott Ross is an installation artist from Johnson City, Tn., who uses his work to investigate how our perception of objects, as well as historical and cultural references, are shaped by museum experiences.
Vadis Turner, from Nashville, works with discarded fabrics and other materials to build “painted” wall sculptures that challenge feminine stereotypes.