Season Archives

Dis/Belief

skeptical realities and the power of interrogating assumptions

Sept. 12 – Oct. 6

Dis/Belief: skeptical realities and the power of interrogating assumptions explores the diverse and complicated ways in which we engage with skepticism and belief in the pursuit of knowledge. Skepticism, at its core, is a mode of questioning and doubt, a demand for evidence and rigorous inquiry. It is a powerful tool for exposing biases and challenging authority for good or for ill. 

The artist’s works of sculpture, video, print, photography, and drawing in Dis/Belief question concepts related to limits and power of knowledge, how truth becomes established, and the impact of fear and worry on our perceptions.

A central tenant of Dis/Belief is the relationship between skepticism and trust. How do we decide who or what to trust, and how is agency given over based on trust? At the same time, Dis/Belief explores the relationship between skepticism and seeking knowledge. How do we determine what we know and what we don’t? What role does subjectivity play? How do we distinguish between fact and fiction? Through their work, the artists invite us to question our assumptions, seek out new knowledge, and to engage with the world in a more skeptical and ultimately more rewarding way.

Associated Programming:

  • Gallery HOP/Opening Reception: Sept. 15, 5 – 8 p.m., Morlan Gallery
  • Artist Talk with Geraldine Ondrizek: Thurs, Oct. 12, 5 – 6 p.m. Carrick Theater a Morlan Gallery and Creative Intelligence Event

The Otherworldly Gaze

Women Redefining Surrealist Art

Oct. 26 – Nov. 21

Through various approaches and materials, the artists in this exhibition create strange yet oddly familiar settings that appeal to our unconscious. Using styles and techniques reminiscent of the Surrealist artists of the early 20th century, they create imagined and fantastical worlds that feature uncanny dreamlike scenes evocative of memory and fantasy, sensation and affect, emotional and physical connections. Their use of saturated colors and undulating patterns often transforms the everyday into the unfamiliar and leads the viewer on an otherworldly journey that elicits both comfort and unease. Much like the dreamscapes and visions of the subconscious created by artists like Leonora Carrington, Remedios Varo, and Dorothea Tanning, the works of these contemporary women artists use similar tactics to discuss loneliness and desire, beauty ideals and identity, human and non-human interactions. Despite their varied backgrounds, the artists in this exhibition share similar interests, concerns, and experiences. From an implicitly feminist perspective, their works reclaim the right to bodily autonomy and fluidity. Against a political climate of sexism, transphobia, homophobia, racism and xenophobia, their works reveal fantasies freed from the constraints of oppressive binary rationalisms in order to reimagine surrealism anew. 

Associated Programming

  • Gallery HOP / Closing Reception: 11/17
    • including fluid open mic/poetry reading & game night
  • Sam Simpson Curator Talk: Thursday 11/2, 5:30pm-7:00 in Morlan Gallery

Tropiciele/ Pathfinders

works from the Academy of Fine Art- Krakow

Jan. 16 – Feb. 23

Tropiciele/Pathfinders is a survey of faculty work from the Academy of Fine Art in Krakow, Poland in which 14-20 faculty are presenting works on paper ranging from contemporary applications of traditional media to the integration of technologies like robotic drawing machines.

The title refers to the search and the lack of a single, designated path of artistic exploration. This exhibition will be a collection of different artistic practices, showing contemporary ways of framing artistic problems through works paper. Seemingly nothing unites the areas of artistic expression of individual authors-but it is a testimony to the attitudes of searching for their place in the current reality. 

Associated Programming

  • Gallery HOP / Reception: Jan. 19, 2024
  • Additional Talks TBD

Note – this exhibition is a collaboration between Transy, UKy SA/VA, and Academy of Fine Art in Krakow, Poland. Associated programming will take place both on Transy’s campus as well as at the University of Kentucky.

Juried Student Art Show

Apr. 29 – May 14

Annual Juried exhibition of student artwork. Transylvania of all majors showcase their artistic talent by contributing works in a wide variety of media for this inventive exploration of creativity. 

Associated Programming

  • Exhibition Reception / Awards Announced: May 2, 5 – 7 p.m.
    (awards announced at 6 p.m.)

Missy Johnston: A Fitting Retrospective

Sept. 9‑Oct. 7

An exhibition celebrating the theatrical art and career of Missy Johnston, Costume Designer for Transylvania University for 15 years.

More from 1780 – The Blog of Transylvania University

Exhibition Programming

  • “Inside the retrospective, A discussion with Missy Johnston”: Thurs., Sept 15, 5:30‑6:30 p.m. in Carrick Theater
  • Opening Reception / Gallery HOP: Fri., Sept. 16, 5‑8pm 

Mnemonic Devices

An exhibition considering what it means to remember

Oct. 24‑Nov. 22

Curated by Emily Goodman — Associate Professor of Art History

Memory is more than just a psychological phenomenon. How we store and recall information, experiences, and data informs how we understand and navigate the world around us. Throughout human history, various techniques and technologies have emerged to help aid our memory ranging from mythological narratives designed to pass on oral histories, written texts documenting our lived conditions to images that capture the ethos of a particular moment, and digital tools that provide us with multiple millennia’s worth of human knowledge at the stroke of our fingertips.

Of all of the “mnemonic devices” that we have come to implement to help enhance our collective remembering, no tool has had such an indelible impact on how we understand memory than the photographic image. So ubiquitous is the relationship between photography and recollection that we even have a term specifically used to describe the phenomenon of nearly perfect recall: the photographic memory.

This exhibition seeks to examine how the photograph — both the still and moving image — has shaped what and how we remember. In particular, this show will examine what it means to remember and whose memories we value. Works in this exhibition will consider different forms of memory and will explore how photography and video shape our understanding of our past — individually and collectively, socially and politically.

Exhibition Programming

  • Joekenneth Museau film screening and artist talk: Oct. 17 6‑7 p.m. in Carrick Theater
  • Michael Mandiberg artist talk — DLA Speaker: Nov. 1, 6‑7 via Zoom – View/Register Here
  • Gallery Hop/Closing Reception: Nov. 18, 5‑8 p.m. in Morlan Gallery
    • Curator Talk by Professor Emily Goodman 6‑7 p.m.

MASCS: Masculinity Reimagined

Jan. 9‑27

Curated by Josh Porter ’19

MASCS: Masculinity Reimagined explores how performances of contemporary masculinities can counteract traditional, binary understandings of gender. Justin Korver, John Paul Morabito, Betsy Odom, Moises Salazar, and Darryl DeAngelo Terrell expose the ways that we culturally define masculinity and how that relates to gender performativity. These artists not only critique cisgender, heteronormative binary understandings of masculinity, but also embrace the performative nature of gender and celebrate non-normative, alternative, and queer masculinities. By encompassing a range of gender and sexual identifications, these artists share their own personal experiences, interpretations, performances, rejections, and embodiments of masculinity. Breaking down the barrier created between masculinity and femininity, they embrace feminist and queer approaches to reimagining our cultural understandings of gender.

The act of queering—or a way to challenge and break down assumptions of identity and power—is a key part of the exhibition. As queering undercuts cultural authority, this exhibition works to queer masculinity toward the dismantling of patriarchal expectations, while showcasing the expression of masculinity in queer, trans, non-binary, and even cis-het individuals. MASCS uses this framework to showcase iterations of masculinity that challenge social norms surrounding gender and celebrate rebellious masculinities. The artists in this exhibition break down traditional gender-based expectations and assert the rise of more fluid understandings of masculinity. This exhibition highlights contemporary reimaginings of masculinity and the vastness of possibility within performances of gender.

Exhibition Programming

  • Masculinity Reimagined: Artist Panel Discussion sponsored by Creative Intelligence with artists Justin Korver and John Paul Morabito, and Josh Porter ‘19: Jan. 12, 6pm-7pm – Watch the recording here
  • Gallery Hop/Closing Reception: Jan. 20, 5-8pm in Morlan Gallery
    • Curator talk with Josh Porter ’19  6‑7 pm

Crucial Terrain: Ecological Flourishing, Environmental Justice and Regenerative Culture in the Face of the Climate Crisis

Feb. 13‑Mar. 10

The Crucial Terrain exhibition features new sculptural and digital works by Zoé Strecker as part of her two‑year Bingham‑Young Professorship project “Crucial Terrain: Ecological Flourishing, Environmental Justice and Regenerative Culture in the Face of the Climate Crisis.”

Exhibition Programming

  • Artist’s Talk by Zoé Strecker, March 8, 5:00pm Carrick Theater – followed by Closing Reception 6:00-8:00pm Morlan Gallery

Constructing Imagination: a Collection of Perspectives

Apr. 4‑17

Every Transy graduating senior artist in this exhibition arrives with different backgrounds, majors, and preferred mediums. Combined with the chaotic few years that have made up their college career, each artist reflects their experience of a different and unique perspective on life and art.

Exhibiting Artists:

Emily Millard, Anna Davis, Katie Mikovch, Eph Page, Ally Fredrick, Alma Valdez, Joey Yong, Annahelen Croce, Leigh Kostenbader, Carter Murphy, Tammy Ray

Exhibition Programming – 

Opening Reception: Thursday, April 6 from 5-7pm