Calendar of Events

The Arts & Culture Alliance is pleased to present six new exhibitions at the Emporium Center in downtown Knoxville opening on Friday, September 6, from 5:00-9:00 PM. As part of a special First Friday Block Party sponsored by the Alliance and City of Knoxville, the free gathering with exhibiting artists will also feature nearly 20 artist vendors and live music with Fountain City Ramblers along the 100 Block of Gay Street, which will be open to pedestrians only from 4-10 PM between Jackson and Vine avenues.

Based on seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish still life paintings, I took inspiration to update my artistic process by studying the past through the sub-genre of vanitas and memento mori paintings. Vanitas is a still life artwork which includes various symbolic objects designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and of the worthlessness of worldly goods and pleasures. A memento mori is an artwork designed to remind the viewer of their mortality and of the shortness and fragility of human life. Every aspect of the picture has symbolism and language, some evident and common, some obscure. These pictures are all studio still life setups, photographed digitally. The permanence of our ideas and identities, whether in art or in life, are a vanity of mind.

David Gorley is an East Tennessee artist with a BFA in Fine Arts from East Tennessee State University. He challenges himself to explore photography’s various techniques and styles to create cohesive, succinct showings of bodies of work. He has used various formats of film and digital cameras over the years. He loves to remind viewers of our rich history of art and how a particular genre in a particular time period can still be relevant to expand upon today. His work has shown throughout East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia. www.davidgorley.com

The Emporium Center is located at 100 S. Gay Street, Knoxville, TN 37902. Gallery hours are M-F 9-5 and Sat 10-1. For more information, please see www.knoxalliance.com or call (865) 523-7543.