Published: November 15, 2008 06:24 pm      

EKU faculty featured in Lexington exhibits

“New Paintings and Drawings,” an exhibit by Karen Spears, professor of art at Eastern Kentucky University, and “Holiday Exhibition of Fine Art and Folk Art by Gallery Artists,” including works by several members of the EKU faculty, will be featured at the Ann Tower Gallery in Lexington Nov. 21 through Feb. 8.

There will be a Gallery Hop reception on Friday, Nov. 21, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Spears’ work, a series of vibrant and mysterious paintings and drawings, is rooted in real-life situations, which she interprets in a fragmentary, dream-like way. In addition to trees, boats, and animals, some of her current imagery is based on children’s drawings; specifically, the artwork her son created when he was a young child. Spears explains that she is interested in the tension between what is known and what is felt. “When I work, I often feel as if I am carrying on a dialogue with my subconscious,” she said.

Before joining the EKU faculty, she taught at the University of Louisville, and was a visiting artist at Brisons Veor Workspace in Cornwall, England; at the American Academy in Rome, Italy; and in the University of Georgia’s Studies Abroad program in Cortona, Italy. Her work has been featured in one-person and group shows in Chicago, Louisville, Georgia and Oklahoma.

The First Floor Gallery will feature a holiday exhibition of work by gallery artists, including: paintings by Spears and part-time EKU faculty member Dal Macon; sculpture by Travis Townsend, lecturer in EKU’s Department of Art & Design; and photography by Mary Tortorici, associate professor, Art & Design.

Tortorici, a photographer for more than 30 years, chronicles unusual yards and scenes she discovers while traveling the back roads of Kentucky. She has received numerous awards and grants for her photographs, including a Ford Foundation Grant and a Film in the Cities/ McKnight Fellowship. In 2004, she was a recipient of the prestigious Kentucky Arts Council Al Smith Fellowship Award.

Townsend recently has presented solo exhibitions at the Weston Gallery in Cincinnati and the New Arts Program in Kutztown, Pa., and his paintings have been published in New American Paintings and the Manifest National Drawing Annual. He was the recipient of an Emerging Artist Grant from the American Craft Council (N.Y.) in 2001, an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Kentucky Arts Council in 2004, sculpture awards from the Virginia A. Groot Foundation in 2006 and 2008, and a Young Sculptors Award from Miami University in 2007.

Macon’s paintings consist of rich, detailed landscapes and interior views. Each canvas progresses over a number of years as he paints only when the light and conditions are just right. He has been awarded prizes in several juried exhibitions, such as the Water Tower Annual sponsored by the Louisville Visual Art Association and the Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio. Macon was featured with 14 other Kentucky artists in the Kentucky Educational Television series, “Looking at Painting.”

The gallery, in the Downtown Arts Center, 141 E. Main St., Lexington, is open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays and with extended hours during special events and theater performances. For more information, contact Lina Tharsing or Page Mendes at 1-859-425-1188 or visit www.anntowergallery.com.