'Hunter Invitational III' opens Friday

Phillip Lewis' "Columns," a 2013 HD video.

"Hunter Invitational III," an exhibition developed in 2007 to "look deeply at some of the most significant artwork being created in our region," will open Friday, June 20, at the Hunter Museum of American Art.

The third in the series, this latest exhibition showcases recent pieces by eight artists: Jan Chenoweth, Alicia Henry, Philip Andrew Lewis, Jiha Moon, Jeffrey Morton, Greg Pond, Jered Sprecher and Martha Whittington. All were invited to exhibit based on "an intense dedication to their work and a passionate engagement with contemporary issues," organizers say in a news release.

The various artists have works included in private and public collections and have exhibited nationally and internationally.

"The Last Remnant Left Behind in Ahab's Empty Bed," a 2011 work in wood, fiberglass, automotive paint and steel by artist Greg Pond.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

¦ Jan Chenoweth: The Florida native lived and worked all over the country before moving to Chattanooga in 2007 through the ArtsMove program. She explores color, texture and form through her layered abstract works. She received her Master of Fine Arts from Florida State University.

¦ Alicia Henry: An art professor at Fisk University in Nashville, she received her Master of Fine Arts from the Yale University School of Art and has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the esteemed Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joan Mitchell Foundation grant and the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture residency.

¦ Phillip Andrew Lewis: He uses a variety of media, including video, sound, installation and photography, to create his interdisciplinary works. He holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Memphis College of Art and heads the photography and media program at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

¦ Jiha Moon: Originally from Seoul, Korea, she moved to the United States for her graduate studies. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa and has been living in Atlanta for the last decade. Her colorfully intricate pieces reference her Korean heritage and American pop culture.

¦ Jeffrey Morton: The Yale University alumnus has been on faculty at Covenant College since 2000 and is the current head of the art department. His latest series find him exploring the landscape around his home through obsessive drawings and heavily encrusted paintings, an interest that began with a two-year residency in Japan earlier in his career.

Jered Sprecher's "Making Time" is an 11- by 8-inch acrylic and paper on linen from 2014. It is on loan from Steven Zevitas Gallery in Boston.

¦ Greg Pond: He creates his sculptural and sound pieces by using both traditional sculpting techniques alongside new electronic media and computer coding. An Oregon native, he has been a professor at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., since 2002. He received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Georgia, Athens. He recently completed a documentary on the residents of Trench Town, Jamaica, and is working on documentary films about the tenants of Patten Towers in Chattanooga.

¦ Jered Sprecher: He draws from a variety of sources for his paintings, abstractions that address an ever-shifting world. A University of Iowa alumnus, he has received the Guggenheim Fellowship and recently participated in a residency at the Chinati Foundation, Marfa, Texas. He has been teaching at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville since 2005.

¦ Martha Whittington: A self-described "maker," she received her Master of Fine Arts from the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and is a professor at the Atlanta campus of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Whittington has been the recipient of the Bernis Center art residency and is a NEA-funded Southern Constellations Fellow.