And...and...and 

Solo Exhibition by Sterling Bowen

 July 29 - August 2, 2025

Reception: Friday, August 1st | 6-8P

Artist Roundtable: Saturday, August 2nd | 3-4P

More About And...and...and 

“And” is an empowering word.“And” points at both or all, and does not invalidate. In fact, its very use highlights difference. You and I can be a beginning, an observation, and a reflection.

“And” is an alternative to “but.” “I love you and you have hurt me” creates a different relationship than “I love you, but you have hurt me.” “And'' also seems an appropriate response as our contemporary life strains to contain the multiplicity of opportunities and actualities that is our beautiful and horrible humanity. An opening of the proverbial aperture is both full of more possibility and more useful than it has ever been, and it is my hope that others will come to share this view.

The mark-making and building strategies employed in the exhibit are an “and”- make a rhomboid/cube, and another and another; stack a block, and another, and another. Juxtaposition makes “and” possible and evident- painting is a flat surface and painting implies depth; drawings relate to painting and are their own modality; cubes are an abstract concept and real objects. The use and display of multiple modalities exploring a common element (the cube) is an “and” itself.

The cube is also a symbol in the realm of Westernized art. It points at Modernism, and as such is a continuation and an addition, a response to many, prior bodies of work.

More About Sterling 

Sterling Bowen is first and foremost an abstractionist. He is primarily interested in the value that contemplation has in our contemporary society. His practice includes making objects, blogging, curating and occasionally teaching. 

During the day and for more than two decades, Sterling has worked to decarbonize our electric grid. He is a father of 2 1/2 young adults who lives in Raleigh, NC, with his summer camp bestie and spouse of 28+ years, and he has a prominent role in his neighborhood and community as a volunteer and concerned citizen.

To learn more visit paintingafterartisdead.com or follow Sterling on instagram @paintingafterartisdead

More About The Artist Roundtable  

Leah Smith’s and Sterling Bowen’s practices engage with the geometric. They both also center connections as a strategy for making and a conceptual source. This roundtable will explore both the common territory they explore, and where their practices may take similar directions for differing reasons. Joined by Chris Thomas and Allison Tierney, the artists will engage with each other and the audience for an hour-long discussion of strategies for practicing in today’s world.

Sterling Bowen

Sterling is first and foremost an abstractionist. He is primarily interested in the value that contemplation has in our contemporary society. The body of work he developed for And…and...and was the first he created in over a decade. Based in Raleigh, NC, his practice includes painting, installation work, writing, and curating. He also enjoys teaching and is a member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid. 

Leah Smith

Leah Smith explores the edges between human creativity and the natural world through an artistic practice encompassing drawing, sculpture, and fiber arts. After growing up in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains near Denver, Colorado, she fell in love with exploring the green, worn-down hills of Appalachia during her college years, and now lives and works in the small town of Canton, North Carolina. She earned her BA in Studio Art from Davidson College in 2013, where she was the recipient of the McAllen Scholarship for Studio Art. Her work has been exhibited nationally, and she has held residencies at the Hambidge Center (GA) and I-Park (CT). 

Chris Thomas

Christopher Thomas is an artist who makes paintings, drawings and artist books. He teaches all levels of Printmaking at UNC Greensboro, and as Studio Foundations Coordinator works broadly to promote first-year art majors in their studio practice and portfolio development.  His work dwells on process-oriented image translations of digital imagery into handmade works on paper and has been exhibited nationally at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Les Yeux du Monde Gallery in Charlottesville, Virginia, the Baltimore Museum of Art, CAM Raleigh, and at Chicago’s A.R.C. Gallery. Thomas has also exhibited internationally at The Foundry, a gallery based in London, England, and as part of the artists’ collective The Printmakers Left at Graphica Creativa: The 12th International Print Triennial in Jyvaskyla, Finland.

Allison Tierney

Allison Tierney is a visual artist based in Pittsboro, NC. She received her BFA from Winthrop University and her MFA from UNC Chapel Hill, where she was awarded the Top Prize for Outstanding MFA Work. Her artistic practice relies heavily on painting and the language of abstraction to respond to found objects, while simultaneously employing various craft techniques to explore personal identity, comment on consumerism, and investigate the divide between craft and art.