Archive For The “Reviews” Category
By Inge Klaps Consider the 1960s. An unpopular war, the Civil Rights Movement, rise of American consumerism, and sexual revolution gave incredible oxygen to the art world. More and more diverse artists voiced these social anxieties at a time when a culture of sweeping artistic innovation was formed: experiments became movements (pop art, minimalism,…
By Joe Nolan The Home Owners’ Loan Corporation was one of the “alphabet agencies” created under the banner of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation in the 1930s. The government-sponsored corporation created a system of color-coded maps in an effort to encourage expanded home ownership in metropolitan areas. The stated purpose of…
By Patrick Vincent ILSSA Frameworks Gallery Entry Title, Unrequited Leisure, 2019, varied media. Photo courtesy of Patrick Vincent. ILSSA (Impractical Labor in Service of the Speculative Arts) was established in 2008 as a form of artist-organization-as-union by co-operators Bridget Elmer and Emily Larned. ILSSA projects enlist the skills and engagement of its members…
By Pete Hoffecker Mejía Work by Lawrence Matthews in Safe-Keeping exhibition, 2019, photograph. Image courtesy of Pete Hoffecker Mejía. In early January of this year a new gallery opened its doors on Lamar Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee, although perhaps to call it a gallery is a bit of a misnomer. The CMPLX…
By Jessica Borusky I write this review on June 30th, 2019. Pride Month. Celebrated in June to commemorate (sans Vodka ads) the Stonewall Rebellion in New York – an event that occurred in the early morning of June 28th, 1969 – and widely considered to be the beginning of collective visibility for the…
by Judith Dierkes Stitched, Celebrating the Art of Quilting at Crosstown Arts in Memphis is a summer exhibition comprised of two shows, Masterworks and Blue, on display May 10 – July 28, 2019, around which a significant amount of programming – in the form of workshops, presentations and meet ups – has been organized…
By Pete Hoffecker Mejía The CMPLX in Memphis, Tennessee, is fast becoming a spot for exhibitions that consistently challenge and provoke the viewer. Operated by The Collective (CLTV), this group of Black artists and culture workers have utilized their combined energies to create a space for the uplifting of critical voices that reflect…
By Katie Lothrop Consumer culture dictates identity, for goods are not purchased for functional satisfaction alone. Rather, they can be procured as a means of establishing status. Artist Jill Baker Gower uses lace and brooch-like pieces to speak to the female experience and, in doing so, operates through set ideals of female gender…
On February 15, Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space selected Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis, who practices outside of Tennessee, to exhibit their work together as a collaborative exploration of materiality and relationship. The exhibition was on view until March 10, 2019 at Crosstown Arts in Memphis, TN. Delta Axis…
By Bridget Bailey Frist Art Museum, November 16, 2018–February 18, 2019 This past winter the Frist mounted the exhibit Life, Love, and Marriage Chests, centered around the craft of cassoni, marriage chests constructed from wood and elaborately decorated for their role in the marriage rituals and subsequent lives of the upper social…