Marie Knight, Creep Crawly II: Pentatomidae Pilgrimage
“Tennessee Daze Inn II” is on exhibit at the Virgie R. Fleenor Art Gallery in the Bristol Public Library, Bristol, Virginia, through Dec. 31. A reception is held Dec. 9 from 5-7 p.m.
The exhibit came about when 30 framed photographs of the Bristol Public Library were found in a thrift store. Asheville artist Jeff Kinzel purchased them and distributed them to 30 artists—working in different styles and media—inviting them to reconstitute the pictures into something else.
All starting from the same place, how did the artists end up taking such different directions? What does a new title do for the image? Do the library windows or the shape of the building spark an idea? How about riffing on the creaturelike sculpture in the photo? These pieces were all created in early 2020, just before COVID-19 hit the world; strangely, a number of them seem to foresee the coming of a viral invasion—whether biological or technological.
Each of the artists in Daze Inn brought something unique to this playful challenge, and these works are the compelling results.
Participating artists include Ken Abbott, Julie Armbruster, Fian Arroyo, Eric Baden, Jane Broderick, Julyan Davis, Glen English, Barbara Fisher, Mark Flowers, Cyrus Glance, Lyn Govette, Travis Graves, Perla Haney-Jardine, Kevin Hogan, Evan Kafka, Jeff Kinzel, Mary Knight, Chuck Krekelberg, Vanessa Mayoraz, Susan Patrice, Kelly Porter, William Price, Michael Robinson, Andrew Scott, Ross David Skinner, Martha Skinner, Lisa Smith, Rachel Stack, Tema Stauffer, Peter Thorpe, Valeria Watson and Robert Zimmerman.
For more information about the library, visit www.bristol-library.org.
