Socratic Dialogues: K Llamas Solo Exhibition at Parthenon Museum in Nashville

Text from Museum Curator, Susan Shockley

About the Socratic Dialogues: K Llamas Solo Exhibition at Parthenon Museum in Nashville:

Kristin Llamas and the Parthenon Museum hosted ten dialogues around Nashville to discuss the same questions posed by the Greek philosopher, Socrates. Each meeting focused on one concept. The goal for each session was to arrive at consensus with a two-sentence definition of that night’s topic. Llamas listened and took notes but did not interact during these conversations about justice, temperance, courage, honor, truth, unity, holiness, virtue, beauty and wisdom.

Her eleven large-scale paintings, born from those discussions, focus on the Socratic questions as they relate to current events. Llamas paints in a surrealist style and each painting is a visual conundrum of symbols. Llamas’ paintings are witty and eye catching, inviting the viewer to take part in the Socratic dialogues that inspired them. Ultimately these paintings are about questions, not answers, and call to mind Socrates’ own conclusion: True wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.