New art exhibit explores consumerism, D-I-Y and throwaway culture

February 23, 2016

Georgia Southern University’s Betty Foy Sanders Department of Art presents Allison Tierney’s “The Things We Keep,” through March 25 in the University’s Contemporary Gallery of the Center for Art & Theatre. The exhibit is open to the public. 

Tierney’s paintings employ found materials and non-traditional applications of paint to question structure, material integrity, consumerism, D-I-Y, and the throwaway culture. The works speak to content of domesticity, waste, time, landscape and femininity.

“Since the majority of my materials are found, they come with their own histories, forms and physical qualities. I exploit this material baggage to see how far painting can be pushed,” said Tierney.

Tierney’s honest use of materials and abstracted brushwork allow the objects used in her work to exist where they are—self-referential, notating their original purpose. The work explores the spatial capacities of painting beginning with the surface. Items embedded within the canvas or sitting flush to the surface become part of the narrative. The work also examines space through what is happening around the canvas or off the wall. This includes indirect effects of the work such as shadows and lighting, but also can involve an extension of the picture plane or free-standing sculptures.

As perspective shifts begin to occur, the viewer has an opportunity to interact with the work in a variety of ways and can interpret their connections with the materials, creating limitless personal narratives.

“Tierney’s work is impressive in and of itself, but becomes even more so once you realize just how many of the art world’s big issues she’s addressing all at once. Among others, these include abstract painting’s century-long exploration of geometry; the role of the art object and its co-extensive existence in and among the embodied space of the viewer; and even questions of how to embed an object’s history and aura into the creation of an artwork,” notes Gallery Director Jason Hoelscher. “These are big questions one at a time, so Tierney’s attempt to tackle them simultaneously is pretty impressive. Add the fact that the work is exciting to look at, with or without pondering these big questions, and the result is a must-see exhibition.”

Tierney’s project is made possible by an Ella Fountain Pratt Emerging Artists Grant from the Durham Arts Council with support from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

Tierney is an artist living and working in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She received her B.F.A. from Winthrop University and her M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where she won the Top Prize for Outstanding M.F.A. work.

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) is the largest of the eight colleges that make up Georgia Southern University, and it plays a central role in every student’s core of knowledge. CLASS, also described as the University’s College of the Creative Mind, prepares students to achieve academic excellence, develop their analytical skills, enhance their creativity and embrace their responsibilities as citizens of their communities, their nations and the world. CLASS offers more than 20 undergraduate degrees and several interdisciplinary minors from its 11 departments and five academic centers. CLASS offers eight master’s degrees, two graduate certificates and one doctoral degree.  For more information, visit class.georgiasouthern.edu.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/Research University founded in 1906, offers more than 125 degree programs serving nearly 20,500 students. Through eight colleges, the University offers bachelors, masters and doctoral degree programs built on more than a century of academic achievement. Georgia Southern is recognized for its student-centered and hands-on approach to education. GeorgiaSouthern.edu.