During the summer, Cumberland Gallery makes it easy for visitors to get acquainted with many of the exceptional regional and national artists working today.  Throughout our Summer Series of shows, each month we will curate a thematic grouping in which we feature our broad roster of emerging and established artists. Extending welcome to new work and artists, these shows cultivate a dynamic conversation surrounding contemporary artistic media, content, and style. Visit us throughout the summer and see something new every month.

June 30 – July 30: UNEXPECTED SURFACES

For our second summer rotation, Cumberland Gallery focuses in on the variety and function of the medium. During the July show, viewership will be challenged and charged by art that speaks to both the visual and tactile sensibility. Take a close look at concentrated surfaces within the carved birch panels of Andy Saftel, Suzanne Stryk's altered mirrors, Gavin Zeigler's mixed media work, and encaustics by Robert Treat, Raphaëlle Goethals, and Cheryl Goldsleger. This show highlights individualized methods that result in unique textures, like Amanda Joy Brown’s drip technique or Warren Greene’s process of pushing acrylic through mesh. United by surfaces that captivate the eye, this broad array of work requires careful study. Viewers are invited to visually and mentally unravel an artistic process as they experience the work.

Extending this dialogue to the 3-dimensional realm, sculptures by Lynda Benglis, Gerda Gruber, Johan Hagaman, and Jim Gibson lend further “unexpected surfaces” to this exhibit. Figural inventors like Gibson and Hagaman find unique purposes within the materiality of their small to life-size forms. Constructions by Gruber and Benglis are linked by a playfully misleading exterior, as seen in Gruber’s porcelain brick-like fortifications and Benglis’ delicate wall pieces built out of solid copper. Sculpture within Unexpected Surfaces offers sensory fuel for thought while celebrating the mystery of materiality.

A Conversation with Andrew Saftel

Saturday July 16th, 11.30 am

For our second summer artist talk, join us in welcoming Tennessee mixed media artist and painter Andrew Saftel. Andrew has shown his work at Cumberland Gallery since the early nineties in four solo shows and select group exhibits. He is recognized nationally for his tactile mixed media surfaces on birch panel, incorporation of found objects, and works on paper. Originally from the Northeast, Andrew graduated from San Francisco Art Institute in California and in the last thirty years has earned numerous awards, fellowships abroad, and public commissions. We are delighted to have him back this summer to talk about the ideas behind his work, process, and developments.