“Positive/Negative 20,” a national juried art exhibition, is on display at ETSU’s Slocumb Galleries through Feb. 25.
This 20th annual exhibit includes a public reception on Monday, Feb. 24, from 4-6 p.m. in Slocumb Galleries on the first floor of Ball Hall, followed by a 6 p.m. lecture by juror Beauvais Lyons in the Brown Hall auditorium.
“The Politics of Parody” is the title of the lecture by Lyons, director of the Hokes Archives and professor of Art at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where he has taught printmaking since 1985.
This slide lecture provides a survey of work by “contemporary artists who have mocked the authority of the academy, the museum, science, history and commerce.” It covers many media, including painting, prints, sculpture, ceramics, photography and design, as well as works by Hans Haake, Fred Wilson, Eleanor Rappe, Norman Daly, Ann Fessler and others.
Lyons’ one-person exhibitions have been presented at over 40 galleries and museums throughout the United States. He has published articles on his work in Archaeology, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Contemporary Impressions, the New Art Examiner and Leonardo.
His work is in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the National Museum of American Art and the Nelson-Atkins Museum. In 2002, he received a Fulbright Fellowship to teach printmaking at the Fine Arts Academy in Poznan, Poland.
Lyons received his B.F.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980 and his M.F.A. from Arizona State University in 1983.
The “Positive/Negative” exhibition was first established by Wayne Dyer, now chair of the ETSU Department of Art and Design in the College of Arts and Sciences. It provides the community a glimpse into artwork created throughout the country. This year, 57 artists submitted their efforts for possible inclusion in the competitive exhibition, and the resulting display includes works in painting, printmaking, photography, fibers and other media.
Slocumb Galleries hours are 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. For more information, call 439-4247.

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