ANA•LOG, Size Matters, and Still
09/27/24 – 01/19/25
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The Galleries at Crosstown Arts
Free and open to the public
ANA•LOG – Lester Merriweather
Fourteen Pics is a cumulative project referencing several continuing bodies of work by Lester Julian Merriweather examining the concept of agency over Black Visualization within American Popular Culture. The works in ANA•LOG draw upon several sources: They take direct visual inspiration from the compositions of the 1982-88 Basquiat-Warhol Collaborations. ANA•LOG’s methodology invokes the long-rumored Dr. Dre concept album The Planets. The gestural treatment of the layered and excavated
surfaces in ANA•LOG pays homage to the experimental processes of the mid-60s Developer tool works by the late Jack Whitten. Language is key to the works included in ANA•LOG. In breaking down its linguistic aspects, Merriweather examined varied forms of the word Analog, defined as “not computerized”; Analog is a counter-cultural delineation that separates itself from the “Digital”. The individually collaged-by-hand elemental “units” in ANA•LOG act in a fashion similar to pixels in the Digital space. Referencing Memphis slang, “Ana” is a shortened form of “Animosity”. “Log” in this instance serves as a “Recorded History”. ANA•LOG essentially serves as a “Record of Remembered Angers” obtained through oft repeated racial disparities within American Visual culture.
Size Matters – Alex Paulus
I’ve been thinking about scale and proportion a lot lately. The size of an object can make it seem important or unimportant. And we all measure things according to the size of ourselves. Things that are smaller than us can seem trivial, while larger objects can feel overwhelming. Yet, when considering the vastness of the universe, our planet seems tiny and inconsequential.
My current series focuses on the juxtaposition of small figures within expansive landscapes, alongside large-scale portraits depicting figures of profound personal meaning from my childhood. The pieces involving small figures in massive spaces, create a sense of insignificance. The large portraits give off a sense of immense importance. But this is all relative to the size of the viewer and how it makes them feel.
I often think about how humans fit into this world and how small we actually are compared to the rest of the universe. I am very interested in the purpose of human existence, but it seems like we do a lot of weird things for no reason. And I’d like to learn as much as I can with my time here on Earth.
Still – Michelle Fair
My current work is more about the process of the painting than anything else. Of course, there are themes and subjects I gravitate towards—figures and landscapes, ideas of solitude and loneliness, etc.—but there is something so explorative and meditative about painting that I’ve noticed becoming more and more the driving factor for me. I find when I try to come up with ideas that are motivated by the final product I get stuck. Lately I have decided to forego the control of the final product and just go where a piece takes me. In doing so, I am looking at colors, shapes, and textures differently than I was before, and I make decisions I probably wouldn’t have made if I had planned everything out. I think focusing on the process has allowed me to lose a little rigidity and explore more, and that is what these pieces have been born from.
