Kong Wee Pang and Jay Crum: Walking Eyes

Reception: Friday, July 31, 6 – 9 pm
Roundtable Discussion: Saturday, August 15, 3 – 5 pm

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday, 10 am – 6 pm

Walking Eyes is a collaborative exhibition by Kong Wee Pang and Jay Crum. Inspired by a month spent in Southeast Asia, each piece was developed through exchanges of ideas and sketches between the two artists. The work is informed by personal memories, hand-drawn maps, tropical flora, and Batik patterns. Many of the pieces have high levels of details with hidden treasures to encourage exploration. The show includes a collection of mixed-media works on paper and fabric, as well as an installation.

Collaborators in life and art, Kong Wee and Jay thoughtfully balance married life, creative exploration and professional growth through ongoing ventures like the playful TaroPop Studio, which they co-founded in 2009.




Artists Bios

Kong Wee Pang is a designer/artist from Malaysia. She graduated from Singapore Nanyang Academy of Fine Art. In 2001 she moved to the United States. She received a degree in fine art and design and an MFA from the Memphis College of Art. She currently works as an art director at the mid-south’s largest ad agency, archer>malmo. Her work has been shown in NYC’s Times Square, Spain, Italy, Berlin, Atlanta, Memphis and California.

Kong Wee on her practice:

My work is concerned with transformation. Coming from Malaysia, I have learned to adapt to a new way of life here in the United States. I exist in a liminal state living in two worlds. I have focused upon the notion of original self, outside influences and transmutation. Working with watercolor is meaningful to me. In Chinese we have a saying which translates roughly to “When you drink water, remember the spring.” The abstracted figures give me a chance to face my new freedom while remembering where I come from. It is found in translation.

Jay Crum is a designer, illustrator and artist. He was born in New Orleans, LA and currently lives in Memphis, TN. He received a BFA in printmaking in 2005 and has since been navigating the line where art and design meet. In 2009 he co-founded TaroPop, a small studio producing T-shirt designs and limited-edition art-prints. He received his MFA at Memphis College of Art in 2012. He has exhibited work in Memphis, Rome and Barcelona.

XO: Collaborative Works by Chloe York & Eric Quick

Artists’ Statement

Within our individual works, we explore the metaphor of the exoskeleton in its relation to the human practice of camouflage and self-defense. We wished to combine this shared interest in a collaborative series of mixed media paintings and sculptural installation. These works depict creatures that physically possess exoskeletons of their own.

This series, entitled XO is a play on the push and pull between abstraction and realism, each artist using his and her individual strengths to create a fully formed, cohesive creature with a disconnect in visual styles.

Open Crit

430 N. Cleveland
Second Tuesday of Each Month
Artist Setup: 5 – 6 pm / Critique & Discussion: 6 – 8 pm

Crosstown Arts’ Open Crit series, organized in partnership with ArtsMemphis, is a monthly critique event where visual artists are invited to bring new and/or in-progress studio work for critical feedback and group discussion particular to each artist’s practice. The series will take place at Crosstown Arts exhibition space at 430 N. Cleveland.

A dedicated facilitator with experience in a group critique setting will guide discussion for each critique event, which will include up to 4 artists’ work, with 15-25 minutes devoted to the work of each.

All visual artists and anyone interested in joining the discussion are welcome to participate regardless of their level of expertise, prior professional art experience or background/education in fine art. Participation is free and open to the public. Input during the critiques from everyone in attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

No formal preparation is necessary for participating artists, who will have an opportunity to introduce and contextualize their work on view at the beginning of each critique. Participating artists are only asked to be open to (and interested in) considering reactions to their work by the group, which will always be done in a supportive, constructive and casual environment, but could at the same time be challenging.


To participate, artists can send the following info via email to Brittney Bullock (brittney@ crosstownarts.org) with the subject line “Open Crit.” Submissions will be accepted and scheduled based on availability. There is no submission fee.

  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • General description of the work to be discussed (i.e. “abstract paintings” or “video art”) & sizes of works and/or media types

Artists are asked to bring no more than 8 individual pieces (in any medium). Maximum run time for time-based work(s) is 10 minutes.

Participating artists are encouraged to invite friends, peers and colleagues to the open crits, both to see their work in progress and to give constructive feedback.

Organized by Crosstown Arts in partnership with ArtsMemphis ArtsAccelerator.

Open Crit

430 N. Cleveland
Second Tuesday of Each Month
Artist Setup: 5 – 6 pm / Critique & Discussion: 6 – 8 pm

Crosstown Arts’ Open Crit series, organized in partnership with ArtsMemphis, is a monthly critique event where visual artists are invited to bring new and/or in-progress studio work for critical feedback and group discussion particular to each artist’s practice. The series will take place at Crosstown Arts exhibition space at 430 N. Cleveland.

A dedicated facilitator with experience in a group critique setting will guide discussion for each critique event, which will include up to 4 artists’ work, with 15-25 minutes devoted to the work of each.

All visual artists and anyone interested in joining the discussion are welcome to participate regardless of their level of expertise, prior professional art experience or background/education in fine art. Participation is free and open to the public. Input during the critiques from everyone in attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

No formal preparation is necessary for participating artists, who will have an opportunity to introduce and contextualize their work on view at the beginning of each critique. Participating artists are only asked to be open to (and interested in) considering reactions to their work by the group, which will always be done in a supportive, constructive and casual environment, but could at the same time be challenging.


To participate, artists can send the following info via email to Brittney Bullock (brittney@ crosstownarts.org) with the subject line “Open Crit.” Submissions will be accepted and scheduled based on availability. There is no submission fee.

  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • General description of the work to be discussed (i.e. “abstract paintings” or “video art”) & sizes of works and/or media types

Artists are asked to bring no more than 8 individual pieces (in any medium). Maximum run time for time-based work(s) is 10 minutes.

Participating artists are encouraged to invite friends, peers and colleagues to the open crits, both to see their work in progress and to give constructive feedback.

Organized by Crosstown Arts in partnership with ArtsMemphis ArtsAccelerator.

Open Crit

430 N. Cleveland
Second Tuesday of Each Month
Artist Setup: 5 – 6 pm / Critique & Discussion: 6 – 8 pm

Crosstown Arts’ Open Crit series, organized in partnership with ArtsMemphis, is a monthly critique event where visual artists are invited to bring new and/or in-progress studio work for critical feedback and group discussion particular to each artist’s practice. The series will take place at Crosstown Arts exhibition space at 430 N. Cleveland.

A dedicated facilitator with experience in a group critique setting will guide discussion for each critique event, which will include up to 4 artists’ work, with 15-25 minutes devoted to the work of each.

All visual artists and anyone interested in joining the discussion are welcome to participate regardless of their level of expertise, prior professional art experience or background/edu- cation in fine art. Participation is free and open to the public. Input during the critiques from everyone in attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

No formal preparation is necessary for participating artists, who will have an opportunity to introduce and contextualize their work on view at the beginning of each critique. Participating artists are only asked to be open to (and interested in) considering reactions to their work by the group, which will always be done in a supportive, constructive and casual environment, but could at the same time be challenging.


To participate, artists can send the following info via email to Brittney Bullock (brittney@ crosstownarts.org) with the subject line “Open Crit.” Submissions will be accepted and scheduled based on availability. There is no submission fee.

  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • General description of the work to be discussed (i.e. “abstract paintings” or “video art”) & sizes of works and/or media types

Artists are asked to bring no more than 8 individual pieces (in any medium). Maximum run time for time-based work(s) is 10 minutes.

Participating artists are encouraged to invite friends, peers and colleagues to the open crits, both to see their work in progress and to give constructive feedback.

Organized by Crosstown Arts in partnership with ArtsMemphis ArtsAccelerator.

Open Crit

430 N. Cleveland
Second Tuesday of Each Month
Artist Setup: 5 – 6 pm / Critique & Discussion: 6 – 8 pm

Crosstown Arts’ Open Crit series, organized in partnership with ArtsMemphis, is a monthly critique event where visual artists are invited to bring new and/or in-progress studio work for critical feedback and group discussion particular to each artist’s practice. The series will take place at Crosstown Arts exhibition space at 430 N. Cleveland.

A dedicated facilitator with experience in a group critique setting will guide discussion for each critique event, which will include up to 4 artists’ work, with 15-25 minutes devoted to the work of each.

All visual artists and anyone interested in joining the discussion are welcome to participate regardless of their level of expertise, prior professional art experience or background/education in fine art. Participation is free and open to the public. Input during the critiques from everyone in attendance is welcomed and encouraged.

No formal preparation is necessary for participating artists, who will have an opportunity to introduce and contextualize their work on view at the beginning of each critique. Participating artists are only asked to be open to (and interested in) considering reactions to their work by the group, which will always be done in a supportive, constructive and casual environment, but could at the same time be challenging.


To participate, artists can send the following info via email to Brittney Bullock (brittney@ crosstownarts.org) with the subject line “Open Crit.” Submissions will be accepted and scheduled based on availability. There is no submission fee.

  • Name
  • Phone number
  • Email address
  • General description of the work to be discussed (i.e. “abstract paintings” or “video art”) & sizes of works and/or media types

Artists are asked to bring no more than 8 individual pieces (in any medium). Maximum run time for time-based work(s) is 10 minutes.

Participating artists are encouraged to invite friends, peers and colleagues to the open crits, both to see their work in progress and to give constructive feedback.

Organized by Crosstown Arts in partnership with ArtsMemphis ArtsAccelerator.