South has achieved international attention for her innovative mixed-media constructions that blur the lines between drawing, sculpture, installation art, and architecture. Born in Manchester, England, she draws inspiration from the industrial urban character of her hometown and of her adopted home in Brooklyn, New York, where she has resided since 1989.
The public is invited to a free exhibition preview at the KMA Thursday, August 26 from 7 to 9pm. Artist Jane South will be on hand to meet with guests, who can also enjoy the opening of Contemporary Focus 2010 on the same evening. Sponsors for this exhibition include the University of Tennessee Visual Arts Committee. Media sponsors include AT&T Real Yellow Pages, Digital Media Graphix, Method Bureau, and WBIR.
About the Artists
Using little more than a scalpel and colored inks, South transforms flat sheets of paper into a range of sculptural objects whose shapes mirror the contemporary urban environment. She cuts, folds, paints, and attaches each element to create forms resembling vents, containers, ladders, scaffolding, and other functional, industrially-fabricated structures. Working without a preconceived plan, the artist assembles these individual parts in elaborate groupings that thrust outward into space as dynamic sculptural assemblages. The slotted cut-outs on the surfaces of South’s drawings make visible their internal structure, and create intricate shadows that extend into the surrounding environment.
South has had recent solo exhibitions at The Queens Museum, Bulova Center, New York; The Weatherspoon Art Museum, Greensboro, North Carolina; Spencer Brownstone Gallery, New York; and Susanne Vielmetter Los Angeles Projects. She has exhibited site-specific installations at Mass MoCA, North Adams, Massachusetts; The Aldrich Museum, Ridgefield, Connecticut; and White Columns, New York. Her work was included in “Burgeoning Geometries: Constructed Abstractions” at the Whitney Museum of American Art at Altria in 2007, and “SLASH: Paper Under the Knife” at the Museum of Arts & Design, New York in 2010. In 2009 South was awarded a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant. Previous fellowships, grants, and residencies include those from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center, the New York Foundation for the Arts, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston: Brown Foundation. More information is available at www.janesouth.com.
The Knoxville Museum of Art celebrates the art and artists of East Tennessee, presents new art and new ideas, serves and educates diverse audiences, and enhances Knoxville’s quality of life. The museum is located in downtown Knoxville at 1050 World’s Fair Park and is open to the public Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday 10 am–5 pm, Friday 10 am–8 pm, and Sunday 1 pm-5 pm. Admission and parking are free. For more information, contact Angela Thomas at 865.934.2034 or visit www.knoxart.org.