Four new exhibitions open at Blue Spiral 1
A striped mask with orange-rimmed eyes and lips fixes its gaze in “Zebra Mask,” a painting by Brooklyn-based artist Samuel Hung. Known for collecting tchotchkes and castoff curios, Hung renders them with Old World precision, transforming flea-market relics into images charged with nostalgia and a touch of the uncanny. His work anchors Tableau: Contemporary Still Life, a group show at Blue Spiral 1 that reimagines one of art’s oldest genres for the present day. Running concurrently in the Lower Level Gallery, Material Matters examines the expressive power of substance itself. Clay, glass, paper, metal, and wood become more than mere conduits and instead speak to memory, culture, and possibility. In the Small Format Gallery, Deborah Squier’s The Poetry of the Earth offers luminous Appalachian landscapes that blend realism and impressionism, inviting quiet contemplation of light and place. The Showcase Gallery closes the circle with Stories Far and Near, in which Julyan Davis traces histories from Napoleonic Alabama to Hurricane Helene, his narrative canvases set in dialogue with Alex Bernstein’s ethereal cast-glass forms.
All Shows: Through October 29
Blue Spiral 1 / 38 Biltmore Ave., Asheville / bluespiral1.com