Arts & Culture Alliance Presents "Radiant Geometries" by Carl Gombert

KNOXVILLE – Hand drawn and hand stamped ink artworks will be the focal point of exhibits at the Balcony at the Emporium Center January 4-24, 2013.

Gnomandala XIII (rubber stamp monotype) by Carl Gombert.

Presented by the Arts & Culture Alliance, artworks by Carl Gombert will be featured in a theme entitled "Radiant Geometries". All works are ink on paper, and they rely on radial structure to explore complexity and pattern arising from the application of simple rules.

The Emporium Center, located at 100 S. Gay Street in downtown Knoxville, will host an opening reception as part of First Friday activities on January 4 from 5:00-9:00 PM with complimentary hors d'oeuvres.

Carl Gombert was born in Brimfield, Ohio in 1959. He started taking painting lessons at the age of fourteen with money he earned delivering newspapers. He received a BFA in Drawing from the University of Akron and an MFA in Painting from Kent State University. He worked as a stagehand before pursuing a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts at Texas Tech University. He has exhibited in more than 150 shows throughout the country and since 1993 has taught painting, drawing, and art history at Maryville College in Tennessee.

The works in "Radiant Geometries" are all ink on paper, and they rely on radial structure to explore complexity and pattern arising from the application of simple rules. Gombert's ink drawings consist only of straight lines drawn with a T-square. Many of his rubber stamp monotypes take the form of mandalas; others are inspired by traditional quilt designs. They attempt to balance opposites, relying equally on dark and light and on positive and negative shapes. "In this little world I have created, there is symmetry, balance, and order," says Gombert, "but neither rhyme nor reason." For more information on Carl Gombert, visit www.carlgombert.com.

For more information, please contact the Arts & Culture Alliance at (865) 523-7543 or visit www.knoxalliance.com.

Published January 2, 2013