Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present five new exhibitions at The Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville from October 1-31, 2021. A free reception with the artists will take place on Friday, October 1, from 5:00-9:00 PM and features an outdoor concert by Knoxville Opera musicians. All visitors to the Emporium are required to wear a mask and maintain physical distancing guidelines. Most of the works will be for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition by visiting in person or the online shop at www.knoxalliance.store.

Alex Smith is a native Knoxvillian. A graduate of Carson Newman University, he also studied at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and completed his MFA at The New York Academy of Art. He received the Elizabeth Greenshields grant and an Artist’s Teaching Residency at the Altos de Chavon School of Art and Design, and he has been the featured artist at the Dogwood Arts Festival and ArtXtravanza in Knoxville. His work has exhibited at the Emporium in Knoxville as well as numerous galleries in New York, including Sotheby’s, Panepinto Galleries, Dacia Gallery, and the Wilkenson Gallery at The New York Academy of Art.

He enjoyed living and working in Brooklyn, New York until the pandemic. Knoxville has welcomed him home. The past year and a half have informed this new exhibition. Like most of us, I’ve grown accustomed to constant detours and changes of plans. Detours send us down roads we didn’t anticipate, and now that we’ve gone this route, we have had to find new ways to interact and experience the world. This exhibition includes works of New York’s grit alongside East Tennessee’s verdant landscape, ranging from hyper-realism to abstracts. While my landscape has changed, I aim to remain true to my classical training and goal, which is to make work that invites viewers to look closer and know the painting’s story.

www.alexsmithstudios.com
Instagram @alexsmith_artist

The exhibitions are on display at the Emporium Center, 100 S. Gay Street, in downtown Knoxville. The Emporium is open to the public Monday-Friday, 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturday, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM (closed Saturday, October 30 and open Sunday, October 31, 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM). For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.