WILLIAMSBURG — The Matney Gallery’s annual Fall Salon, bringing together sculpture, printmaking, photography, and mixed media, opens Friday and runs through early January.
According to the gallery, the Fall Salon “is a vibrant survey of contemporary practice that brings together sculpture, printmaking, photography, and mixed media in a dynamic dialogue of materials and meaning.”
Anchored by Chris Wagner’s sculptural “Salon Takeover,” the exhibition includes Steve Prince, Garth Fry, Lita Tirak, and Dana Jo Cooley, each exploring art as an act of engagement and renewal, the gallery said.
According to the gallery, artists and pieces include:
- Dana Jo Cooley: From Appalachian Soil to Urban Poetics
Tennessee-born artist Dana Jo Cooley unveils a new mixed-media work that fuses the spiritual residue of Appalachian landscapes with the conceptual rigor of New York’s art scene. Her practice — ranging from intimate assemblages to public interventions — transforms memory and material into vessels of tenderness, humor, and resistance. Cooley’s recent work situates the sacred within the everyday, reinterpreting Southern vernacular narratives through contemporary form.
-
Steve Prince: The Jazz of the Human Spirit
Steve Prince, Distinguished Artist in Residence at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary, brings his acclaimed linocuts into the Fall Salon. A master printmaker and educator, Prince draws on the rhythms of New Orleans to render scenes of faith, resilience, and collective awakening. His monumental prints — steeped in the cathartic energy of the jazz funerary tradition — translate history into hope and transformation. - Garth Fry: The Architecture of Process
Norfolk-based artist Garth Fry extends his sculptural investigations into process and perception. A preparator at the Chrysler Museum of Art, Fry bridges institutional craftsmanship with experimental inquiry. His practice — rooted in both theory and touch — reflects a deep respect for form, structure, and the invisible labor of making. Through subtle manipulations of material, Fry reveals sculpture as both object and meditation.
- Lita Tirak: Seeing Beyond the Visible
Dr. Lita Tirak’s color-infrared photographs, informed by her research into electromagnetic theory and environmental histories, reimagine the landscape as a living archive. Her series on the Great Dismal Swamp situates scientific methodology within poetic practice, merging spectral light and historical resonance. Tirak’s work invites viewers to perceive what lies beyond sight — to experience photography as both revelation and remembrance.
- A Convergence of Vision and Voice
Together, these artists embody Matney Gallery’s ongoing commitment to cultural stewardship and dialogue across disciplines. The Fall Salon also includes works by Jill Carnes, William Ruller, Michael K. Paxton, Noreen Dean Dresser, Rebecca Shkeyrov, George Papadakis, and others, as well as rare photographic prints by Jonas Mekas, the legendary “godfather of avant-garde film.”
An opening reception will be on Friday, Nov. 7, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Matney Gallery. The exhibit will be on display until early January. For more information about the gallery, visit its official website.
