The Tipton Gallery will be exhibiting works of art made by ETSU staff and adjuncts from Feb. 3-14. The exhibition, called “The Sublimely Flawed Animal,” includes a variety of media focused on showing internal struggles of being human, with the show featuring many chimeric and mechanical creations from the minds of ETSU’s own staff.
The exhibit is indicative of the rising movement on campus toward inclusion and representation of adjunct faculty. The College of Arts and Sciences was the first to raise adjunct pay, and their support has not stopped there.
“We really wanted to celebrate our adjunct faculty because they work really hard,” Gallery Director Karlota Contreras-Koterbay said, whose art is also on display. “They teach some of the classes our regular faculty cannot teach. They really are the heroes of the university.”
The exhibition reflects this in some of its art, which, according to a press release, features themes of “memory, identity, the need for acceptance, isolation, power structures, labor and consciousness.” However, Contreras-Koterbay emphasized that it is not an inherently political statement, but rather a showcase of what the faculty have created and how they spend their free time.
The art is focused on acknowledging the innate flaws in humanity, but also their strengths. Perhaps most apt in showing this is a photograph of imposing water towers and cars overshadowing two pedestrians, emphasizing humanity’s ability to create complex and intricate inventions despite our inherent weaknesses.
The exhibit is curated by ETSU alumni Alice Salyer, a former art director and current adjunct faculty member in ETSU’s Graphic Design program. Salyer’s work features an incredibly diverse set of art forms from many artists.
The Tipton Gallery is located at 126 Spring St. in downtown Johnson City, open Thursdays and Fridays from 5-7 p.m. A special reception for the exhibit will take place from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 7. Admission to both the gallery and reception is free.
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