Current Season

Jack Girard: 1975 – Present

50 years of boxes, totems, constructions, and forgotten drawings

Sept. 10 – Oct 10

Jack Girard’s drawings, collages, and sculptures interplay between personal and societal narratives. In artworks spanning roughly 1975 to present, Girard constructs intricate visuals bound together in ways that are at times confusing, funny, alluring, and maybe even a little abrupt, edging against taboo. 

With a masterful hand, honed through decades of prolific creation and continuous inspection, Girard employs a diverse range of techniques to create works that are both intellectually and visually stimulating. A Transylvania University professor for over four decades, his deep engagement with students and the academic world shaped his artistic vision.

This retrospective exhibition reminds us that ideas and relationships are cyclical, that returning later for a fresh perspective establishes who we are through repeated significance. This becomes evident in Jack’s work by repeated themes of death and grieving, curiosity about various cultural practices, and a deeply speculative eye towards power and politics – often executed with a wry sense of humor. These intertwine the multifaceted nature of human experience. Each of Girard’s works tells a story while challenging the notion of linear narratives, preferring instead to explore the messy, often contradictory realities of life.

Associated Programming

  • Gallery HOP Reception — Sept. 19, 5-8 p.m.
  • Artist Talk — Oct. 2, 5 p.m. in Morlan Gallery
  • Studio 300 — Oct. 8 & 9

Rematerialize

A metamorphosis through reflective action

Oct. 27 – Nov. 21

While we tend to think of “materialism” as the longing for and obtaining of goods and things, materialist philosophies propose that the fundamental experience of the universe is derived from and understood by the materials within it. Materialism acknowledges that the cosmos of which we are a part is made of matter, and that the experiences that we have are born from that same matter. The artists in this show consider how material interactions—including those within and between ourselves—shape our knowledge and the ways we inhabit our environments. The works in this show invite us to be present and experience matter as a method of learning and being.

We invite visitors to be participants in this exhibition and find joy in the actions both physical and psychological that they undertake in the space of the gallery. We hope that in participating, visitors will not simply see the artwork, but will look actively for and at the material of the work. We invite participants to find moments of tension between materials, points of resolve within works, notes of balance and imbalance, and manifestations of change within the works and within themselves. We hope that this exhibition will encourage us all to be present with the material of our lives, both within this space and beyond it. 

Associated Programming

  • Laura Korch artist talk: Oct. 27, 5:30 p.m. in Morlan Gallery
  • Pictures at an Exhibition performed by Greg Partain with painting and remarks by Constance Grayson: Nov. 16 at 3 p.m. in Carrick Theater
  • Gallery HOP Closing Reception: Nov. 21

Zak Foster: SOUTHERN WHITE AMNESIA

Jan. 12 – Feb. 20

Southern White Amnesia examines the family stories white Americans pass down through generations—or allow to be forgotten—about their role in slavery and its ongoing legacy. When Foster told a family member about discovering records showing their ancestors had enslaved people, the immediate response was “no”—followed by insistence that they would “surely know” if this were true. That moment of family denial launched this entire collection.

The work moves from confronting hard evidence in old estate documents and Civil War letters to attempting communication with ancestors through dream work and AI-animated family photographs. Rather than ending with historical revelation, the collection culminates in active repair—both literal mending of found textiles and ongoing spiritual work of ancestral accountability.

Foster commits 100% of proceeds from sales to scholarships through the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, making the repair work concrete and immediate.

Associated Programming

  • Gallery HOP / Reception: Jan. 16, 5-8 p.m.
  • Creative Intellegence Series Lecture by Zak Foster – Feb. 12, 6 p.m.