"When Ilana Lilienthal asked—well, told—David Butler she wanted a select batch of his pastels for Lilienthal Gallery’s Deconstructing Landscapes exhibition, he was caught off guard. She’d spotted them in his South Knoxville home during a party he and husband Ted Smith were hosting. David hadn’t created them with the outside world in mind.
Each one depicts the Great Smoky Mountains, a subject that never really sits still. The flutter of leaves, the shifting play of light and shadow, the eternal mini-drama of a mountain creek … David attempts the impossible task of pinning down the fleeting energy of it all.
Ilana has impeccable taste and a mind like a jeweler’s cut when it comes to curation. David agreed to share his works, but he’s quick to admit he feels like an imposter. It’s the first time he has appeared in a major exhibition. He was one of just three regional artists included (we profiled Gary Heatherly last month), alongside others from Oregon to Israel.
A little imposter syndrome is understandable. David has been surrounded, literally, by some of the best art in the world his entire career. Now, 20 months into retirement from his post as longtime executive director of the Knoxville Museum of Art, he’s still settling into what comes next."
— Leslie Bateman, Inside of Knoxville