Visual Memphis: July 2013

July 31, 2013 1 comments

July 31, 2013 No comments

SESSION I - September

Acrylic Painting - Color and Technique with Melissa Dunn

Mondays · Sept. 9th - Sept. 30th · 4 Classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$150 · Plus $50 Material Fee · Beginner and up

Drawing with Embroidery with Jennifer Sargent

Tuesdays · Sept. 3rd - Sept. 24th · 4 Classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$150 · Plus $25 Material Fee · Beginner and Up

Exploring Composition through Collage with Kerrie Rogers

Wednesdays · Sept. 4rd - Sept. 25th · 4 Classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$150 · Plus $50 Material Fee · Beginner and Up

The Figure and Abstraction with Roger Allan Cleaves

Thursdays · Sept. 5th - Sept. 26th · 4 Classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$150 · Plus $50 Material Fee · Beginner and Up

Sketching with Oils with Elizabeth Alley

Thursdays · Sept. 5rd - Sept. 26th · 4 Classes · 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

$150 · Plus $50 Material Fee · Beginner and Up

Four Perspectives: Conversation and Critique

with Maysey Craddock, Melissa Dunn, Nancy Cheairs and Veda Reed

Fridays · Sept. 13th & 27th · 2 Classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$150

SESSION II - October + November

Painterly Pages - Watercolor and Bookbinding with Sunny Montgomery

Mondays · Oct. 14th - Nov. 18th · 6 Classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$225 · Plus $50 Material Fee · Beginner and up

Reclaiming the Canvas - Expand and Develop your Painting with Melissa Dunn

Tuesdays · Oct. 15th - Nov. 19th · 6 classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$225 · Plus $50 Material Fee · Beginner and up

For the Love of Drawing with Melissa Dunn

Wednesdays · Oct. 2nd and Oct. 9th · 2 classes · 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

$100 · Plus $25 Material Fee · Beginner and up

Sketching People with Elizabeth Alley

Wednesdays · Oct. 16th and Oct. 23rd · 2 classes · 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

$100 · Plus $25 Material Fee · Beginner and up

Thinking, Making, Doing with Maysey Craddock

Wednesdays · Oct. 30th and Nov. 6th · 2 classes · 6:00 pm - 9:00 pm

$100 · Plus $25 Material Fee · Beginner and up

Art After School with Erin Harris

Wednesdays · Oct. 16th - Nov. 20th · 6 classes · 3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

$175 · Materials Included · 2nd - 5th grade

Develop your Personal Vision with Nancy Cheairs

Thursdays · Oct. 17th - Nov. 14th · 5 classes · 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

$225 · Bring your own materials · Some experience required

For full descriptions and to sign up for our classes click here!

call 901-767-2999

Flicker Street Studio

74 Flicker Street

Memphis, Tennessee 38104

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Exhibition of Street Art

Gallery 363, 363 South Main

Opening Reception Friday, July 26, 6-9pm

Work on display by appointment only through August 26, call 901.452.8033

Native Memphian Wallace Joiner, now in Nashville, volunteered as a curator of this exhibition which will open for the July 26 trolley tour at Leadership Memphis Gallery 363. With five artists and over 40 works this show is big in size and impact. The show opening will be held from 6:00 – 8:30 pm at 363 South Main.

Joiner has recruited artists from both Memphis and Nashville from the show including –

· Nosey42 lives and works in Memphis, TN. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Memphis in graphic design. He has recently gained acclaim for his ongoing work with the Urban Arts Commission Mural program and “I Love Memphis” campaign.

· Hunter Paser is a self taught artist born in Memphis, TN. He has a keen eye for colors and using them in an abstract fashion, incorporating shapes and different blend techniques into his work.

· Audie of Nashville. His work centers on using his medium to mimic nature’s dynamic mixture of color and texture, employing color combinations, strategic drips and splatters, and overlapping stencils to achieve the desired effect.

· Bryan Deese is an artist, designer and publisher. Deese has been a fixture in Nashville's hip-hop scene for decades. His publication CONCRETE Magazine has become Nashville's historical record for urban culture.

· Michael Wyatt will also be participating in the show.

Said Joiner, "I have always been interested in street art and street culture: skateboards, graffiti, music, and dance styles carry a certain conversation with each other. They have been a fascination of mine since I was a teenager growing up in Memphis. These arts are meant to be shared amongst friends in a community, and they can range from friendly to controversial and everything in between."

She continued, “Although the true passion of this group of artists is working outdoors on a large scale, they all also work in the studio to perfect techniques, explore ideas at a more intimate level, and to create works that are meant to last. Learning how challenged they are to work in such a small medium is fascinating to me. In essence, their street painting style appears as if under a microscope, exposing the imperfections of working with spray paint and the immense precision required for detailed stencil work. However, the end result of facing these challenges is often surprising, as the individual personalities and painterly qualities of these artists emerge. “

The show will be on display through August 26. Viewings of the show after the opening night are by appointment only; appointments can be made by calling 452-8033. Gallery 363 is managed by Allen Hall Projects.

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Bobby Spillman: Waterworks

Material, 2553 Broad Avenue

Reception Friday, August 9, 6-8pm

Waterworks will run from Friday, August 9 to Thursday, August 29

Material is excited to announce its one hundred-sixth and final exhibition, Bobby Spillman: Waterworks.

Everyone enjoys a good story, and Memphis artist Bobby Spillman is no exception. Born and raised in the south, Spillman has been toting a sketchbook under his arm like a best friend since he was a little boy. As a child growing up, the young artist found inspiration and entertainment in the little things he saws around him as well as the tall tales he would hear as he ease dropped on those he would encounter from day to day. Children’s books, flea market comics, southern crafts in corner stores, and the overwhelming knowledge of the Saturday morning television cartoon lineup fueled young Spillman into a world of overwhelming and sometimes livable imagination. Much like the work of Robert Crumb, Chuck Jones, and Jack Kirby, his work lies in his own world made to allow the director full range and control of their own life situations, characters, environment, rules, and, of course, outcomes to the day to day trials of life. The world of Spillmanville, has been a place for the artist to dictate his ideas into the reality of his characters and to illustrate the narratives that reveal themselves from personal observations. His drawings and paintings are thematically rooted in the social commentary, symbolism, and editorial styles of Daumier, Goya, and Raymond Pettibon. Spillman uses his loveable animal characters, architecture, and illustrative landscapes as a place and a means to discuss the mundane, satirical thought, symbolism and the day in, day out conflict between humans and their environment, while creating work that even a little kid could visually enjoy.

Bobby Spillman was born and raised in Memphis TN in 1974. He holds a Bachelors of Science in Communications degree from the University of Tennessee, where he studied radio and the music business, and a Masters of Fine Arts degree in painting and drawing from the University of Memphis. Spillman is an active working artist who is also an advocate for art education and its importance for developing a more creative thinking society for the future. He has taught all levels of education from kindergarten to painting and drawing courses at several institutions of higher learning. Currently, Spillman is a visual arts instructor at one of the highest performing high schools in the Memphis area and the current Mayor of Spillmanville and its art studio.

About the show the artist writes: “In my work, I illustrate my fictional world of Spillmanville with the intention of presenting my images of characters in a world that is whimsical, satirical, nostalgic, aesthetically pleasing, and sometimes at odds with itself in order to make a connection with the viewer if only to say, ‘Hey we should laugh at ourselves a little more.’”

He goes on to write: “Having the honor of being the last show and in keeping with the traditions of Material Art Space, I felt that this was a perfect opportunity to put down the pens and the oil paints to exhibit work that I have been making over the past several months using watercolor. The work in this show is a small glance at Spillmanville in full color, and the narratives speak of everything from the simple appreciation of beautiful things to the foolishness of taking things too seriously. Enjoy!”

Material is located at 2553 Broad Avenue. Parking is available on both the north and south sides of Broad Avenue.

About Material: Founded by Hamlett Dobbins and Julie Meiman in late 2004, Material is a 19’ x 16’ exhibition space set in the storefront on Broad Avenue in the Binghamton neighborhood of Memphis. Taking the name from Montessori learning tools, Material 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 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. Come visit.

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Jason Miller has organized a sixteen-part exhibition at Gasoline on Broad Avenue called Circuitous Succession featuring work by: Brian Anderson, Mike Coulson, Saj Crone, Beth Edwards, Jan Hankins, Bienvenedo Howard, Jed Jackson, Lawrence Jasud, Ross McLean, Valia Oliver, Robin Salant, Wayne Simpkins, Mari Trevelyan, Jeane Umbreit and Mary K VanGieson. Each solo show will feature a unique title with didactic content describing the work on view. The exhibition series will occur July through November. Each exhibition opens on a Friday with a reception from 6-9pm and remains on view by appointment until the Wednesday after the opening. Gasoline is located at 2493 Broad Avenue.

The inaugural exhibition entitled La Grande Paradoxical Vigil will feature paintings and photography by Jed Jackson. The opening reception and gallery talk is Friday, July 19, 6-9pm.

The Facebook event page describes the conceptual thesis of Circuitous Succession:

The title for the entire series of exhibitions is Circuitous Succession, meaning that the mental and visual route obtained through the ever-changing course of works of the artists featured in this series forms a unique path wherein each show stands on its own while simultaneously drawing off the quiet left by the previous in a domino effect array of diverse imagery that ranges from oil paint to acrylic paint to print work to photography, from objects collected by an artist in his studio to films that helped form his vision, and yet further into forms of the mind that take on actual shape in sculpture...This series of divers shows becomes a collective. However, within the collective is a place where each artist's work may be focused upon by the viewer without the distractions of a shared space as within a group exhibition.

Jason was nice enough to take some time to discuss the upcoming exhibition series with Visual Memphis:

VM: You mention that the title of this series, Circuitous Succession, references a unique path forged by individual artists working in disparate media, yet these solo exhibitions come together to form a collective through connections and arrangements you have personally considered. Can you elaborate on these connections?

JM: Circuitous Succession has an ambiguity to its referral in regards to a collection of solo exhibitions that appealed to my sense of style in presenting artworks that are arranged in ways that they have never been arranged before. The mystery I find embedded within the intuitive process of the way I work, both as artist and curator, align into the most fundamental regiment of my practice. I am painting, so to phrase the term openly, with the artworks of my contemporaries, all of whom I admire and respect. I take liberty in bringing my own thoughts and strategic chess moves into the process. However, my utmost goal is to present the artworks of each artist in ways in which they have not previously been shown. This series is a fresh and new way to revisit the work of some of Memphis' most vital and important artists.

VM: Do you anticipate that viewers will be able to make these connections on their own, week to week, throughout the run of this exhibition series? Will the didactic material facilitate this goal?

JM: Viewers will bring what they will to the table of their viewing experience. Some viewers will have an abundance of previous experience viewing the art of many of these well known Memphis' artists, yet the experience of viewing the rarely viewed, entirely new, or never exhibited artworks as arranged through my vision as curator will add a significant dynamic into the viewing experience that will not be seen in any other context preceding or post this viewing experience. That is my role as curator, to arrange, represent, and shed new light on the extraordinary artists that I showcase in this sixteen-part exhibition series.

VM: I imagine it is difficult to maintain a cohesive, overarching concept all while not diluting the strong individual voices in the series. Can you share an anecdote with us about working through this, perhaps involving your curatorial process or with an individual artist?

JM: As curator, I play the role of artist by arranging the works of other artists. Anticipation of the viewer's experience is an open abyss, which is limited only by the experiences and mental baggage brought by each individual viewer. I enjoy the superfluity of thoughts generated by the views and opinions of a plethora of diverse human beings brought together under the roof of a singular gallery space. I create and use my imagination and experiences when I make my own art, and I extend this practice to my curatorial practices. I make and generate commentary and the uttermost thread connecting this span of sixteen exhibitions is that I am the one curating the series. The decisions I make as an individual develop into a pattern, my pattern is that of the free radical, and so anarchy and chaos will still ultimately honor some form of a unifying nature. Certain components will connect because I am the thread weaving together the works of these amazingly unique artists. There is room for verity and free radicals to roam, and yet the artworks remain that of the artists represented. I arrange the layout of the shows, the titles, the labeling, the publicity, the sound and video if applicable for the artist, I select the objects and collectibles from the artist's studio to make connections to their art, and I devote considerations to the didactic information and titles of works provided by the artists-from the information I draft statements for the shows in addition to titles.

JM: I am familiar with a large expanse of the work produced by all of the artists with whom I work, and yet always am thrilled to rediscover or initially discover something I never quite saw before in their artwork. I have a specific reason why I chose each of the sixteen artists for this series. I performed studio visits with each artist with forewarning that I was investigating in order to arrange artworks that they never showed, rarely showed, or to be created new based on the feedback given by me in collaboration with the artist during my visit.

VM: Do any artists plan on making new work specifically in response to this exhibition series or do you choose existing work you feel aligns with your vision?

JM: I am curating from non-shown work, rarely shown work, and in some cases invoking the artist to make entirely new work solely for each exhibition. Ultimately, the inclusion of any previously shown work is limited by the stipulation, which I impose, demanding that the artworks unified within the singular body of a solo exhibition have never been previously united into a cohesive show before. I am building these exhibitions by arranging the work of each artist in a way that has not been precisely arranged before, and that is among the utmost height of my curatorial standards.

Objects from each artist's studio will play roles in some of the exhibitions and in certain cases, even full image collections that extend past the works hanging on the gallery walls will be accessible to the viewer. I shall provide two examples: With Brian Anderson, I found it necessary to invite the viewer to peer into the complex range of his photographic practice. With Beth Edwards I saw an urgent connection to her playful American and European toy collection from which she draws inspiration as subjects for many of her oil and watercolor paintings.

VM: Jason also wished to include a disclaimer regarding the series:

Art is sacred and should be viewed as so. Art is an extension of a living person and it is revered by me.

I would like to state that this is a non-commercial venture. This series is intended to share the art of these extraordinary individual artists as presented through my curation of their work. All events are free and open to the public. No money is involved and the space is freely provided by me as the venue for this event through an arrangement with Gasoline (a gallery on Broad Avenue). Some of the artists are represented by commercial galleries and some have no representation. All purchase inquiries will be referred to the gallery representing the artist.

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