Category: Exhibit M

George Bougher’s People, Places, Things at the Dixon brings together 27 of his paintings from the last two years. Tonight marks the show’s opening at Art after Dark from 6 to 9 p.m. (Plus, one of my favorite local bands, the Bluff City Backsliders, will be performing.)

• 15 x 23.5 in
• George Bougher, The Middle Ground

“I call the show People, Places, Things after the spaces I’ve been that are special to me, places I sought out, things that spoke to me in a special way,” says Bougher. “I get in rhythm with a person, place, or thing. That’s the best way I can explain it. There’s lots of trees but why do I want this tree? Why do I want a relationship with this tree? Sometimes I never know the answer and sometimes the answer isn’t logical its psychological.”

• 13.75 x 21 in
• George Bougher, The Time Traveler

Bougher’s paintings have an oil painting quality to them, but he uses a technique known as watercolor impasto, which blends the lightweight watercolor with a thicker texture. As for his subjects, Bougher has collected them over his long life as a self-proclaimed “gypsy.”

• 17.75 x 20.75 in
• George Bougher, The New Jersey Castle

“I decided years ago that I was willing to take the vow of poverty to pursue a life in the development of fine art,” he says. “That’s taken me all around the country. I have a cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so I go back and forth from [there]. I’ll go out for the solitude for a month or a few weeks and then come back. I’ll make the trip interesting for myself. Take a side trip to a place.”

From “tearing up SoHo before SoHo was cool,” to modeling his life after George Catlin (“going out and seeing this new wilderness untouched and untampered with”), George Bougher has been living for his art for decades. “When I love, I go all the way,” he says.

Bougher’s exhibit will be on display until January 9, 2011.

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, 4339 Park Avenue, 761-5250, dixon.org

Hi everyone! It’s a rainy Tuesday, and I’ve got something for all of you art fans huddled up by the computer. My pal and Flyer cohort, Halley Johnson, passed this along to me:

• Alexa Meade, The Struggle

Alexa Meade is a master of trompe l’oeil. Look closely and you’ll see that the picture above is actually a man painted to look like a portrait. Alexa paints directly onto the skin and clothing of her three-dimensional subjects.

• Alexa Meade, Alexa Split in Two

• Alexa Meade, Found

Check out much more at alexameade.com. Here’s hoping we see some of her paintings walking around Memphis someday.

Moments of Reverie, Lauren Coulson’s show on display now at the new Playhouse on the Square, captures an interesting conversation between paint and print, between consciousness and abstraction.

• 38 x 58 in
• Lauren Coulson, Moments of Reverie

Tomorrow night a student-curated show of work by local artists will take place from 6 to 11 p.m. at 2010 Court St. — a house otherwise known as The Dairy for its proximity to the Turner Dairy on Madison.

Works by Chihiro Gakumura, Elaine Miller, Bienvenido Howard, Ariel Claborn, C.K. Harrington, and Carly Greenwell will be on display inside; and performances by Justin Edward and Mary Molinary will go on at 6:30 and 7 p.m., followed by a film screening in the front yard at 9.

For more information, email dairymemphis@gmail.com.

Tonight is the 5th Annual Broad Avenue Artwalk, highlighting local artists’ work at Studio 1688, T Clifton Art Gallery, Splash Creative, MetalWorks, Archicast, Urban Art, Odessa, and more.

The featured exhibit is Bala Boyd’s digital visual abstract “Void?”

• Bala Boyd, Void?

This short film (the 2010 Best of Show winner at the Alys Beach Digital Graffiti Festival in Florida) will be projected outside from 8 to 10 p.m, and Bala will be there to discuss his work.

And, of course, be sure to check out the new Three Angels Diner, open until 2 a.m. You won’t be disappointed.

Art friends! Don’t forget that tonight is “Shell Out for the Arts” at the Levitt Shell. Hosted by ArtsMemphis, the fund-raising event includes live music from Alvin Youngblood Hart and beer, wine, and dinner catered by Young Avenue Deli. Tickets are $20 for adults and free for children under 12.

For more information, visit www.artsmemphis.org or call 578-2782.

40 Bike Rack Maquettes opens on Friday October 8, with a reception from 6 to 8 p.m. at the UrbanArt office on Broad Avenue. Gadsby Creson’s miniatures couldn’t be displayed at a better time, as Memphis has recently been realizing its potential to be a greener, more bicycle-friendly city.

“One of my goals in getting my MFA was making public art,” says Creson. “And I had, just as a first semester graduate student, applied to some of the national calls for bike racks. In doing so, I realized I was just doing little sketches of my proposed racks and not really giving them a good idea of what it would look like three dimensionally.”

• C-Type photograph, 30.50 x 52.562 in (77.50 x 133.50 cm) Courtesy Galerie Lelong, New York © Rosemary Laing
• Rosemary Laing, a dozen useless actions for grieving blondes #5, 2009

Perhaps one of the art events I’m most excited about in October is Anguish, an exhibition of works from nine different artists on the theme of, well, anguish.

It certainly isn’t an easy topic to explore, but one of the rawest of human emotions is the inspiration for curator Cynthia Thompson’s upcoming exhibition at the new Memphis College of Art Graduate School on South Main.

“The idea for this exhibition has been kicking around in my head for over a year,” says Thompson. “I like to come up with a concept and find artists whose work reflects that in different ways. It’s challenging. And I do it also because I like to challenge the viewers. I think it’s important to bring work to Memphis that people can not only view, but experience.”

Odessa is advertising for a unique gathering (purge party?) next Friday, October 8th. The event is called RELEASE and you can check out the details after the jump…

In 2001, Mary Cashiola sat down with Mahaffey White as she reflected on the past 90 years of her life. An avid photographer, White is still at it 9 years later, and this time her work is on display alongside that of her great niece, Ashley Kuhn.

The show is on display at the Wings Gallery at the Wings Cancer Foundation. White’s photographs are highly figurative, often of fruit and flowers, and are remarkably similar to paintings, both in coloring and composition. Kuhn’s approach is considerably different and plays with very abstract glimpses of movement and light.

• Ashley Kuhn
• Blue

• Ashley Kuhn
• Marching

• Ashley Kuhn
• Hernando

The work will be on display until October 29. For more information or to purchase one of the pieces, contact Sarah Blackburn of Wings Gallery at 901-683-0055 ext.1187.

Wings Gallery, 100 N. Humphreys Blvd, www.wingscancerfoundation.org