Season Archives

Shifting Practice: A Transylvania University Faculty Exhibition

Sept. 10-Oct. 11

Shifting Practice: A Transylvania University Faculty Exhibition explores the evolving artistic journeys of our studio art faculty. This exhibition presents a collection of works that trace the professional and creative development of Transy faculty members, from their early artworks to their most recent creations. The diverse array of styles and mediums showcased here underscores the transformative experiences and persistent exploration that characterize artistic practices. Both an academic investigation and a personal narrative, this exhibition offers a unique opportunity to engage with the rich, multifaceted careers of Transylvania University faculty.

  • Zoé Strecker
  • Kurt Gohde
  • Grace Ramsey
  • Anthony Mead
  • David Gerhard

Associated Programming:

  • Gallery HOP Reception: Sept. 20 5-8 p.m.

Marginal Labor

Curated by Dr. Emily Goodman and Anthony Mead

Oct. 28-Nov. 19

This exhibition considers how labor that exists at the margins—because it is low or no-wage work, because it is essential but unglamorous, because it is invisible or internal—shapes our understanding of the people who perform these tasks and the roles they play in our society. Artworks in this exhibition will thus examine capitalist delineations of labor as well as how labor exists outside and beyond the marketplace, including, but not limited to, considerations of caretaking, ability/disability, and interpersonal and affective work. As such, this show hopes to disrupt the marginalization of various forms of labor and shine a light on the constructed hierarchies that privilege some types of work as more worthwhile than others.

  • Borealis
  • Maia Chao
  • Kate Gilmore
  • Sofía Ramírez Hernández
  • Emily Hanako Momohara
  • Tracy Marie Taylor
  • Grace Ramsey

Associated Programming:

  • Gallery HOP Closing Reception: Nov. 15 5-8 p.m., Curator Talk at 6 p.m.
  • Academic Affairs artist talk with Grace Ramsey: Nov. 14 12 p.m. in Morlan Gallery

Allison Spence: Untitled Frankenstein

Jan. 13-Feb. 21

Allison Spence’s exhibition “Untitled Frankenstein” examines what happens when one is confronted with a body that does not apply to our commonly held definitions. These bodies possess weight, form, and accepted anatomies, yet Spence also explores the potential within indeterminate bodies, examining what they contain and the new meanings they create through recombination.

Drawing inspiration from the medical term “teratoma,” which describes a tumor containing disparate tissues and translates to “monster tumor,” Spence reflects on our scientific and cultural approach to abnormality. This concept of monstrosity parallels our fragmented contemporary existence, shaped by scientific and technological advancements. Through her work, Spence aims to expose previously delineated forms as inherently malleable, with identities in flux, subverting our expectations and revealing the nuances and new possibilities of existence.

Associated Programming:

  • Gallery HOP / Reception: Jan. 17
  • Artist Talk: Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m., Morlan Gallery

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
  • Artist Talks / Panel Q+A: Wed. 1/31, 5:30-6:30 in Carrick Theater at Transy
  • Lecture with Gallery: Fri. 2/2, noon in Bolivar Gallery at UK-SAVS

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.)