The Knoxville Arts & Culture Alliance presents “Stalked in the Quarry," a new exhibition featuring the works of Alan Finch and Denise Stewart-Sanabria. Finch’s stone sculptures and Stewart-Sanabria’s paintings on wood will be on display July 6 – 28 at the Arts & Culture Alliance’s Emporium Center. Stewart-Sanabria’s “stalked reception people” will be “attending” Finch’s stone sculpture exhibit in a conceptual play on reality.
Alan Finch has been active in the East Tennessee Art Scene for the past 20 years as a painter, sculptor and independent curator. Finch began sculpting in stone in 2003 and finds it more fulfilling than any other medium with which he has worked. As he begins removing layers of raw stone, the stone creates an image in his head, leading him to the finished sculpture.
“I am inspired by the abstract shapes I see in nature, and I love using found organic objects in my work or as ideas for shaping the stone,” says Finch.
When he hikes in the mountains of East Tennessee, he constantly observes the natural stone formations around him. His artwork has been exhibited in numerous national, regional and local juried shows. Most recently he participated in the 22nd annual Positive/Negative juried exhibition at the Slocomb Galleries at East Tennessee State University. Finch has two large-scale marble works on permanent display in Knoxville at the UT Trial Gardens and Ijams Nature Center. Both his artwork and curatorial skills have been positively reviewed in "Art Papers," an internationally circulated art magazine. Finch is a native of Oak Ridge and currently resides in Clinton.
Denise Stewart-Sanabria works in many mediums including painting, mixed media and large-scale drawing on wood. For the past two years, she has been taking candid photos, mostly unobserved, of people attending exhibit receptions in downtown Knoxville. She uses the photos as reference for producing life size portraits with charcoal on plywood. The finished portraits, most of which are free standing, are cut out and attached to bases. Stewart-Sanabria exhibits widely throughout the southeast, both in juried, solo and invitational exhibits. Among her over twenty awards in the last five years is an award from Marc Pachtor, director of the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. Stewart-Sanabria resides in Knoxville.
The opening reception on Friday, July 6, from 5-9 p.m., is free and open to the public, and complimentary hors d’oeuvres are served. “Stalked in the Quarry” is on exhibit July 6 – 28, at the Arts & Culture Alliance’s Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville.
Gallery hours are Monday-Friday 9-5 and Saturday 11-3. For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance, (865) 523-7543, or visit their Web site at www.knoxalliance.com.