Wide range of artistic styles in small packages at UT's Downtown Gallery exhibit

Photo by University of Tennessee Downtown Gallery

“Reinventing the Wheel” by Jason S. Brown, University of Tennessee sculpture professor, is among 82 pieces represented in the Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition at the UT Downtown Gallery.

Photo by University of Tennessee Downtown Gallery

“Reinventing the Wheel” by Jason S. Brown, University of Tennessee sculpture professor, is among 82 pieces represented in the Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition at the UT Downtown Gallery.

Each can fit in a shoebox though some would require one big enough for boots or basketball shoes. But the 81 pieces in the 10th International Annual Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition present a range of artistic ideas, methods and materials, done in small scale.

The exhibit is at the University of Tennessee Downtown Gallery, 106 S. Gay St., through Feb. 20. There’s a 5-9 p.m. Feb. 5 reception during downtown Knoxville’s monthly First Friday celebration.

The traveling exhibit shows contemporary works, both abstract and realistic, created by artists from 14 countries. Organized every two to three years by University of Hawaii Art Gallery, the exhibitions present sculpture that can travel. The exhibit of shoebox-size work began as an alternative to displays of larger, massive, heavier pieces difficult to ship. This exhibit was at the University of Mississippi Museum before coming to Knoxville and will make future stops in museums in Washington, California and Louisiana.

Among the pieces is Knoxville artist Richard Jolley’s steel and glass “Meta Physical #4.”

Because of the sculptures’ sizes, gallery visitors see a array of styles and inspirations. Hawaiian artist Eli Baxter’s militaristic “Rhinoni” with tire valves stuck around its fat body looks like an armor-wearing sea creature. A small, naked plastic doll wears a skeptical look as it stands among stick trees in New York artist Elizabeth Berdann’s “Forest.”

Visitors are likely to look and look again at the clear case holding a large pressed block of dark human hair that makes up the “United Hair Brick” sculpture by New York artist Wenda Gu. It’s tough not to want to touch Ohio artist Richard Harned’s small cast iron “Souvenirs” sculptures. The sculptures of such iconic buildings as the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower look fuzzy because iron filings cling to the magnetized pieces.

The materials used contribute to the variety. Hawaiian artist John T. Koga’s “Walking Tree” is a deep brown bronze. Mamoru Sato’s “Compression IV’ sculpture of PVA and aluminum looks like an artistic representation of a section of a radiator. Dallas artist Sherry Owens built a sculpture she called “The Sun in Your Eyes” from crepe myrtle twigs and branches.

Adam Brimer/news sentinel

Norway artist Felieke van der Leest’s “Elephant Pastello di Bello” is among the works in the 10th International Shoebox Sculpture Exhibition at the University of Tennessee Downtown Gallery.

© 2010, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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