"I spoke with Kelly Ferguson, Gallery Director for Lilienthal, who said, “The impetus for the show was thinking about how the art of Lilienthal connects with people here. We want to bring international art (and one international artist is included here) . . . and the landscapes here have served as inspiration for artists across the world for generations.” She said an exhibition focusing on landscapes made sense and “they don’t have to be a traditional sense of a landscape.”
So, what translates this traditional subject into a contemporary work? It varies with the artist, but Ferguson pointed out the bold brush strokes in Butler’s work, which is being presented for the first time in a major exhibition. Of another local artist, photographer Gary Heatherly, she noted the use of editing and lens selection to produce photographs that appear realistic initially but assimilate modern photographic techniques to make something entirely fresh.
David Underwood, the final of the three regional artists currently featured, has exhibited in the Smithsonian and other museums with his photo-collage and layering work. “Most of his works have a sort of metaphorical meaning, including allusions to history . . .”
—Inside of Knoxville