Exhibitions
LISA FLANARY: IN EAST TENNESSEE
The Emporium Center / 100 S Gay St. February 4, 2022 - February 28, 2022
Lisa Flanary
This five-year project documents the eastern third of Tennessee through 35 color photographs.
East Tennessee is very different from the rest of the state; it is culturally and geographically part of Appalachia. Here, modern life and the traditions of the early Scottish and Irish settlers often intertwine. Reality and irony are everywhere we look. Children play in the backyard, and there is a castle down the road. Young men portray the East Tennesseans who fought on the beaches of Normandy. A bluegrass band plays the tunes of early ancestors. Evangelicals speak of heaven and hell on street corners. They want to save our souls because the grim reaper is coming and there will be a feast with the beasts. The local chiropractor wants to fix our bodies and advertises this with an enormous spine on display. Angels are everywhere and the Waffle House stands like a beacon on a hill. This is East Tennessee.
Lisa Flanary is a professor of Art at Carson-Newman University where she has taught since 1998. As a fine art photographer, Flanary uses 4x5 and medium format film cameras. She also works with the digital camera. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States. Flanary earned an MFA from East Tennessee State University and a BA in History from Carson-Newman University.
www.lisaellisflanary.com or Instagram @lflanarycamera
