Tag: Visual Arts

Material Anthology

July 17-August 11, 2013
Material was founded by Hamlett Dobbins and Julie Meiman in late 2004.  A 19’ x 16’ exhibition space set in the storefront on Broad Avenue in the Binghampton neighborhood of Memphis, Material takes its name from Montessori learning tools.  The space was built to provide emerging and established artists with an intimate, clean space in which to share their work with Memphis’ growing arts community. The programming consists of monthly or nightly shows as well as artists’ lectures in connection with local colleges and universities. Material has served as a space for young artists to have their first shows, as well as a place for established local and regional artists to test new ideas in a public forum. In addition to serving local artists, Material has hosted artists from Birmingham to Tokyo.

This exhibition celebrates and commemorates Material Art Space’s inspiring and longstanding impact on the Memphis art community and its unprecedented run as an alternative space.  In May of 2013, Material celebrated its 100th exhibition and in August it will host its final show as Hamlett Dobbins leaves for an eleven-month stay at the American Academy in Rome. The exhibition at Crosstown Arts will feature work by over 50 artists who exhibited at Material from 2004 through 2013.

Among the many artists who will contribute to the exhibition are Greely Myatt, Mark Nowell, Melissa Dunn, Mel Spillman, Bobby Spillman, Rebecca Robert, Elizabeth Alley, Clayton Colvin, Kathleen Perniciaro, Douglas Degges, Dwayne Butcher, Tad Lauritzen Wright, Adam Farmer, Susan Maakestad, Jonathan Auger, James Inscho, Clare Torina, Jamie Harmon, Holly Cole, Pete Schulte, Georgia Creson, Alex Harrison, Jordan Martins, Maggie Kleinpeter, Jeana Baungardner, Joel Parsons, Mary Jo Karimnia, and Joshua Huyser.
Contact: Hamlett Dobbins  dobbinsh@rhodes.edu or Emily Harris Halpern Emily@crosstownarts.org

Ink x Memory

Presented by The Skull x Rose Tattoo Collective

Tattoo art exhibition

 

Jessica Lund: Wreford

Crosstown Arts is pleased to present Wreford, an installation of new work by Jessica Lund on view from August 17 to September 14, 2013. Jessica Lund is a recent graduate of the University of Memphis’ MFA program. Her work explores memory through mapping and architectural space in the forms of drawings and large-scale installations.

From the artist:

Wreford has been my landlord for the past two years. He rules with an iron fist over a complex of four multi-unit buildings. One of them housed my first-floor one-bedroom apartment. My interest for some time now has been in exploring memory through architectural space and mapping. A recent exodus of 1865 Poplar Avenue has refocused these ideas.

This work explores the symbiotic relationship between existing architectural structures and the personalities that inhabit them:

Wreford:  He charged me $2 to wheel my trashcan to the street. He looks like a Ken doll.

Mister:  My cat has moved with me five times in six years. He looks like a stuffed animal.

The Neighbors: They held the fence dividing our properties together with a garden hose. I never actually saw them.

I spent July leaving Wreford’s, toting boxes across midtown Memphis to a new residence. Cat fur tumbleweeds blew through the apartment as I slowly emptied it of belongings. It was gross and romantic.

Jessica Lund was born in 1986 in Florida and grew up in Alabama. She received her MFA at the University of Memphis and her BA at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. She currently lives and works in Memphis, Tennessee.

View a full gallery of installation images here.

Poster photo by Mim Brooks

 

 

Epic Vision

Michael Williams, "Blue Oasis," from his exhibit "Epic Vision" at Crosstown Arts.

 

EXHIBITION SCHEDULE
Thursday, April 30 – Saturday, May 2 // 10am – 6pm
Saturday, May 2: Closing Reception // 6 – 8pm

“When I tell people I create, they think I’m a musician.”- Michael Williams

Crosstown Arts is pleased to present an exhibition of over 50 paintings by Crosstown residents Michael Williams and his mother, Mattie Williams. Although working in clearly distinct styles, their process involves a delicate exchange: Mattie inspired Michael to paint, and Michael names Mattie’s paintings. Both artists are self-taught and have been painting most of their lives. Michael is visually impaired, so he uses tools like powerful magnifying glasses and bright lights to enhance his limited field of vision, seeking to capture realistic perspectives in his landscapes. Mattie uses acrylic paint to create abstract works with bold colors and repeated patterns, often floral or geometric forms. Together, their works demonstrate how the act of creating can strengthen the ties that bind people to one another — through family, through paint.

Michael was born with an eye disorder known as Stargardt’s Disease and recently founded a non-profit organization, International Association for Sight Impaired Artists. The organization’s mission is to educate, empower and support individuals who are blind or visually impaired to be involved in the visual, performing and literary arts. Michael hopes to inspire others with sight impairments not to limit themselves creatively.

He has won many awards in several art competitions, including Memphis Technical High School “Outstanding Art Student” Award in the 1980s, St. Joseph Hospital Pen and Ink Art Competition, Southland Mall Scholastic Art Competition, Mid South Fair Pen and Ink Art Competition, and the American Printing House for the Blind International Art Competition in 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014.

Painters on Painting Gallery Talk

A discussion about abstraction with artists Hamlett Dobbins, Melissa Dunn, and Laurel Sucsy

Image: Rob De Oude

Between the Eyes

Crosstown Arts is pleased to present Between the Eyes, a group show about contemporary abstract painting and how we see it.  Just as the relationships of pitch and duration can express emotion in music, the formal relationships of hue, value, shape, and placement can collect to create meaning in abstract painting.  Featuring the work of six painters exploring distinct modes of abstraction, the exhibition examines the way each artist uses deliberate choices to engage us in the experience of looking.  Formal cues such as gesture, color and the use of found objects prompt us to recognize patterns and attribute meaning to certain behaviors.  Physicality contends with the pictorial as we both decipher and project meaning into the space of abstract forms.

The exhibition is curated by Laurel Sucsy and features work by New York-based artists Marina Adams, Rob de Oude, and Joe Fyfe; LA-based artist Iva Gueorguieva; Philadelphia-based artist Rubens Ghenov; and Laurel Sucsy of Memphis.