Tag: Memphis College of Art

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WE SAW YOU: Glam Rock Picnic

Mike McCarthy (Photos: Michael Donahue)

Mike McCarthy lent a hand as guests climbed a ladder in front of his
10-foot, papier-mache sculpture work-in-progress of David Bowie.

Guests at his “Glam Rock Picnic” were given little pieces of clay to tap onto the sculpture to help build the statue.

Colleen Couch and Stevan Lazich
Chris McCoy, Craig Brewer, and Natalie Ensminger
John Marvel McCarthy and Nya Goble

The statue, which portrays Bowie in the “Tokyo Pop” jumpsuit by Kansai Yamamoto, has four heads, which represent Bowie’s predilection for taking on different identities. 

The goal of McCarthy’s nonprofit, Sculpt Memphis, is to preserve Memphis music through sculpture. He believes placing the statue in Overton Park near the site of the old Memphis College of Art in Overton Park would be a good spot for the Bowie statue when it’s completed. In 1973 Bowie visited the school, then known as Memphis Academy of Arts, to accept a watercolor by Dolph Smith, an instructor at the time. 

Vincent and Misti Rae Holton
Hanna McCarthy

Smith and his son, Ben Smith, attended the picnic. 

“I thought it was a great kickoff to phase one,” McCarthy says.

The ultimate goal is to cast the sculpture in bronze. Which may mean another party or two in the future. 

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WE SAW YOU: Sean Winfrey: Dealing With Mental Illness and Grief Through Art

Sean Winfrey features 20 paintings in his current show. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Sean Winfrey’s art exhibit, “Lines Apart,” honors people he has lost.

“The overall theme, I guess, would seem to be healing,” says Winfrey, 31. “With kind of the emphasis on mental health and grief.”

His big brother, the late John Winfrey, was the initial inspiration for the show. “A few years ago, my brother committed suicide. He was bipolar like me. The art just came about by me just trying to fix myself a little bit and reflect on some of the good times I’ve had with him.

“And it kind of expanded. For a while, I was losing people every other year of my life. So, it was a way for me to eternally heal.”

Winfrey is an instructor in the Cloud901 team learning lab at Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, where he mentors young people in filmmaking, painting, and digital art. He’s also a member of the Memphis Flyer’s 20 < 30 Class of 2020.

“Lines Apart,” which will be on view through August 31st at the library, opened with a reception on July 29th.

The works in the show aren’t typical of Winfrey’s art. “I’m usually making art that is reactive in other ways — making people laugh and music videos and things like that. This is more of an internal struggle I’m trying to push out.”

“Matter” was the first painting Winfrey did for the exhibit. “It’s an abstract piece. And I continued doing this abstract method until it kind of formed into a concrete idea and concept. It’s black-and-white lines. I feel like my fascination with it came whenever I put the epoxy on and the lines started to come alive and feel like they’re moving a little bit.”

“Matter” by Sean Winfrey at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)

He then began to “make more three-dimensional spaces with just these black-and-white lines. I wanted to create motion with a still image. Whenever I was creating a lot of these images, I was doing a lot of meditation. It was really just an attempt to push myself out of a dark place. I suffer from bipolar and I need to do very tedious things in order to fight through depression and fight through similar things my brother was going through.

“I think there’s a big misconception with people who commit suicide. My brother really did want to live. He just had a bad day and he didn’t have the resources to pull himself out.”

Making the paintings was therapeutic. “It gave me a source of healing. But I feel like this is relatable to anybody that’s experiencing grief.”

The exhibit features 20 paintings. “I was trying to do two paintings a week and just get lost in the process. I dropped all of my other gigs and things just to kind of focus on this. It took me nine months to finish this series.”

While he was working on the paintings, one of the teenagers he mentors at the library, Jonathan Killingsworth, looked at Winfrey’s work. “He came up and said, ‘Oh, this is really great.’ Two weeks later, he passed away from a very senseless gun crime. He got shot for a small sack of weed.”

LaQuindra Killingsworth, Chris Killingsworth, Jeremy Killingsworth, Sean Winfrey, and Amun Tyz with Winfrey’s painting of the late Jonathan Killingsworth at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Winfrey began putting color in the paintings of people “to signify them being alive.” 

Then, he says, “I just kept diving deeper. When I was in my early 20s, I lost my best friend. And it was like five years ago when I lost my nephew’s father, my brother-in-law.”

His portraits of people he has known who have died cover a span of about 10 years, Winfrey says. “Doing the portraits probably was the most therapeutic because it was like I was having a conversation with them and reflecting on a lot of memories.”

Instead of pushing away memories of these people, Winfrey decided to “dive into some of those memories and the way they impacted me and shaped me. ‘Cause I wouldn’t be the same person without any of these people.”

“Portrait Of Joey Bingham” by Sean Winfrey at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
“Portrait of Mike McCabe” by Sean Winfrey at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)

A native Memphian, Winfrey grew up in an artistic family. His parents are Jen and John Winfrey, owners of Winfrey Works. “My mom does all those ceramic flowers and my dad, all the metal work.”

Winfrey, whose first creative expression was writing his initials on everything he came across, wasn’t encouraged by his parents to become an artist. “My mom always told me not to become an artist because I’ll be broke. But I did anyway.”

Street art was his first artistic endeavor. “I was projecting big images of zebras and things. Spray painting them on walls around the city. There are still some around. I kind of slowed down on that when I was 18 because I didn’t want to go to jail.”

He created paintings on canvas using stencils while at Overton High School. “I did a lot of work about Memphis and about the history of Memphis. Like I did a lot of MLK paintings and just paintings of our trolleys. That was mostly high school. And when I went to college, I mostly focused on cartoons.”

The last pieces he did at Memphis College of Art were rotoscopes. “It’s basically taking film and tracing over each frame.”

“Suits,” which featured images of himself, was Sean Winfrey’s first experimental music video. (Credit: Sean Winfrey)
“Bad Scientist” (Credit: Sean Winfrey)

“Drift,” one of those pieces, is “about floating through life. Letting things affect you as you walk through life. Each little clip was a different obstacle. Like me climbing up a hill, climbing up a ladder, jumping off of something. And it all looped back to me going to sleep.”

That film was “just about the day to day struggle.”

Which Winfrey knew first hand. “I had a big struggle with my mental health. When I was in college, I had to take a couple of months off to come back to grips. I fell into a psychosis because I lost my best friend and it kind of threw me out of reality for a while.”

When he was in high school, Winfrey tried to take his own life by taking pills. “I was like 15 or 16. And I had to get hospitalized. I feel like that’s another big reason why I like working with kids around that age.”

Approaching adulthood and starting to think, “What am I going to do with my life?” when you’re that age is “very stressful,” Winfrey says. He wants to help kids “not feel so weighted down by adulthood.”

After he graduated from college, Winfrey worked as a creative producer for about five years at ABC-24. He began freelancing after he left that job. “I was doing a lot of skit shows and comedy skits with some friends of mine. They’re still on the Internet somewhere.”

He began working with Graham Brewer, who introduced him to his dad, filmmaker Craig Brewer. Craig introduced him to Muck Sticky, who then introduced him to Al Kapone. “We made a music video with Al Kapone and Muck Sticky cause he [Kapone] liked my work.”

Winfrey began making cinemagraphs. “It’s kind of like a photo that is slightly animated in that all the photos come alive.”

He made the water, wind, and the Hernando de Soto Bridge move in a cinemagraph in Kapone’s “Oh Boy” video. 

Al Kapone’s “Oh Boy” (Credit: Sean Winfrey)

Winfrey also worked on a podcast with the performer, FreeSol, for about a year and a half.

He made a video of rapper DaBaby at Beale Street Music Festival.

DaBaby at Beale Street Music Festival (Credit: Sean Winfrey)

He included his work in Indie Memphis Film Festival, where his “Oh Boy” video came in number two in the Hometowner Music Videos category in 2019.

Winfrey’s creativity doesn’t stop at filmmaking and painting. “I also  design a lot of clothes. I have a website I sell clothes through. It’s called existential67.com.”

He’s also a performer. “I used to have a band in college, as well: Emojicon1967.”

Sean Winfrey’s Emojicon1967 performing at a house show (Courtesy Sean Winfrey)

Winfrey rapped and wrote poetry. “It’s a lot of poetry on top of beats. I still write often. It’s another way I express myself. We had a few albums and we put on a lot of house shows. I still rap and I still write a lot of poetry, but I haven’t really brought it out to the public yet.”

He put the pause on a lot of his creative outlets to focus on his current show. “And try to find some sort of healing. I think this is going to be ongoing. I’m not going to be completely fixed until my last day of my life, I guess.”

Future plans include his upcoming marriage to Jamie Bigham.

Sean Winfrey and his fiancé Jamie Bigham, at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)

As far as maybe moving someday, Winfrey says, “I definitely want to broaden my circle and get outside of Memphis. But I feel like there’s a lot of work that can be done on the ground floor here. And there’s a lot of talented people to work with constantly. I love working with kids and doing something for the community. That’s really fulfilling.”

And, he says, “My main goal is to be financially independent with only my art.”

But if he ever does move to another city, Winfrey says, “I’ve always got to come back to Memphis to drink the water. Because I guess there’s something in it.”

Keshia Williams, Taylor Jackson, Amanda Willoughby, Janay Kelley at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Michael Donahue and Carlos Valverde at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Memphis Public Libraries director Keenon McCloy and Sean Winfrey at “Lines Apart” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
(Credit: Michael Donahue)
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We Saw You: GLITCH Re-Returns

Adam Farmer, who doesn't like to be photographed, with one of his videos (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Adam Farmer will host another “GLITCH” art show Friday, July 28th at his Midtown home.

His last “GLITCH” show took place July 21st, but it wasn’t the show the artist originally planned. Thanks to a glitch, the power went out.

 “‘Glitch,’ if you look it up, is a mistake or a malfunction of something’s normal operation,” says Farmer, 34. “When something screws up.”

Thanks to a generator, GLITCH went on with about 35 or 40 people attending. But it was more of an open house, so Farmer decided to hold another show more like what he originally envisioned. Those who attended last week’s GLITCH will see a different show this week because Farmer changed a lot of the work. The recent exhibit was titled “Second Nature,” so his upcoming show is “Second Nature (Second Chance).”

When his house is being used as a GLITCH show, it’s not a house. It’s a glitch because it “becomes something new and different” for a brief time.

Adam Farmer held a GLITCH show July 21st at his home. He’ll hold another one July 28th (Credit: Michael Donahue)

A native Memphian, Farmer, who graduated from Memphis College of Art, says, “I’m a post-modernist painter and I’m focusing mainly on installation right now. And collage-based processes. The most dynamic installation I’ve ever been a part of would have to be my home.”

Between July 2013 and July 2016, Farmer held 40 art and music shows in his home. “Each show was different and I never gave myself a solo show. I always gave other people the opportunity to take over the space and do whatever they wanted.”

Farmer featured at least 175 artists, including local, national, and international, over those 10 years. The upcoming GLITCH will be on the 10th anniversary of his first show.

He also features bands and performers. “GLITCH was and is more than a venue. It’s a living, breathing work of art, one big immersive hybrid assemblage. It’s one piece.”

Farmer uses the German word Gesamtkunstwerk to describe Glitch. “It means total art work — an art that resonates with all of your senses. It’s audio, visual. It’s sensory.”

His entire house is artwork: “What extends beyond the main space, the transformative GLITCH gallery space, is still part of GLITCH. There is art on every square inch of these walls. From the gallery space to the kitchen to the laundry room and even the bathrooms are carefully curated installations. 

GLITCH (Credit: Adam Farmer)

Farmer stopped doing the shows because they were too labor intensive. “So much work and I wasn’t being paid for it. Ultimately, giving up your home is a major sacrifice. And doing it every single month for three years would be a lot on anybody — and there were a few extra shows in between.”

He decided to bring it back this year as a test and a celebration. This two-part show is the “first, last, and only solo show” for Farmer at his own space.

His art work is on view inside as well as in the backyard. “The new work is mostly portraits. And they come from screen shots from films or TV shows. My work is about collage or borrowing or stealing. It’s about appropriation. So, if I’m watching something, it becomes a part of my life. It’s a response to life, both digital and physical.”

One of his favorite TV shows is Survivor, which he describes as “a guilty pleasure.” 

The show features portraits of participants from Survivor and characters from Stranger Things and the 2019 movie, Villains.

One of his portraits is of Allen Iverson, one of his favorite NBA players growing up. Farmer’s grandmother gave him six Iverson jerseys three years in a row as Christmas and birthday presents, he says.

Adam Farmer’s portrait of Allen Iverson (Credit: Adam Farmer)

He also will be showing his video collages made on VHS tapes. He paints the tape box covers 

Farmer features large sculptures and installations in his backyard.  “I call them ‘shrines.’ They’re all about moments and different choices in my life. I try to remember them. One of them is about never leaving Memphis. It’s a basketball goal. And the foliage is growing into it.”

He created his own lacrosse goal with Santa Claus as his goalie “My backyard is more of a gym than anything else.”

Adam Farmer created his own lacrosse goal with an iconic goalie (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Another piece is a stationary bike.  You can ride it as a bicycle but “it makes sound when you ride. It creates a wind chime effect. It’s physical. It’s sculpture. It’s painting. And it also makes music.”

Farmer’s stationary bike sculpture (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Live performances at his upcoming show after 8 p.m. will include Wallace Leopard and Quinton Jevon Lee a.k.a. Outside Source.

Wallace Leopard will perform at “Second Nature (Second Chance)” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Allie Eastburn, who was the first solo performer at a GLITCH show (October, 2013), and George Williford were at “Second Nature” (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Ham that I am, I played Adam Farmer’s Lowrey organ at “Second Nature” (Credit: Steve Rone)

Farmer will provide “soundscapes for the opening” with his Avant Gauze music project. Avant Gauze was the name of a type of bandage. “Since I’m interested in appropriation, I stole their brand name.” And a bandage fits perfectly. “I think art is healing.”

Avant Gauze is Adam Farmer’s music project (Credit: Adam Farmer)

So, is Farmer going to start doing GLITCH shows again? “I don’t know. I’m open to doing them more sporadically,  but not in the same routine as before. Not a monthly thing. Maybe two or three a year at the most.” The schedule, he says, will be “more like a glitch. More random.”

Second Nature (Second Chance) will be held 6 to 10 p.m. July 28th at 2180 Cowden Avenue.

Note: The show will be “all ages friendly,” Farmer says. Using an old copy machine, Farmer will make free coloring books for children 13 and under.

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MEMernet: Minecraft, Kroger, and Pooh Shiesty

Minecraftin’

Instagram user Eric Huber is recreating Rust Hall, the iconic building central to the former Memphis College of Art campus, in Minecraft. The whys of this project don’t matter at all. It’s simple internet genius.

Posted to Instagram by @erichber

Krogerin’

A Nextdoor Kroger bash is still burning after user Patti Ward complained last week that, after 30 years of shopping at the Union Avenue location, she’ll “never again” shop there.

The post racked up 229 comments. The discussion ranged from whether or not the issue was an issue at all, Big Brother, other Kroger locations, other stores, missing Seessel’s, and a proposed 30-day ban on bashing Kroger on Union. The post followed a March 15th post from Rita Baker calling the Union Kroger “the worst grocery store on the planet.”

Explainin’

This week YouTuber Memphis Newz broke down the confusion over rapper Pooh Shiesty’s recent diss of South Memphis, his own neighborhood.

“Sometimes when a rapper gets big, their neighborhood will turn against them,” Memphis Newz said. “A lot of the time, it’s the rapper’s fault because they’ll be doing some hoe-ass shit.”

Posted to YouTube by Memphis Newz

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“Works of Heart” Moves Online This Year

Among the artists in ‘Works of Heart’ is Alex Paulus, who contributed his ‘Just Out of Sniffing Range,’ an acrylic on wood.

I have fond memories of a jam-packed Memphis College of Art with people crowding around and bidding on every size and shape of  “valentine” imaginable.

That won’t be the scene this year. Fundraisers have gone the way of the dinosaur — at least for now. But you gotta have heart. So take heart. “Works of Heart” will take place, but this year’s event is virtual.

The Memphis Child Advocacy fundraiser, which will celebrate its 29th anniversary, will be held February 7th through 14th. It will feature heart-themed art by more than 100 artists. Bidders will go online to try to snag their heart’s delight.

Among the artists contributing work are Dolph Smith, NJ Woods, Quantavious Worship a.k.a. Toonky Berry, Veda Reed, and Alex Paulus.

For John McIntire’s ‘Cave Stone,’ the artist traded a banjo for the stone, found in Middle Tennessee, that was transformed into this beautiful sculpture.

“We knew the event was going on no matter what and the committee had a lot of discussion about what that was going to look like,” says Child Advocacy Center communications and grants manager Beryl Wight. “Even thought about postponing it. And we just settled on that we’re going to go head and do it virtually this year ‘cause it is a Valentine’s event.”

Artists are traditionally given a 12-inch wooden heart to use as their inspiration, but they don’t have to use it. Works in various shapes include painting, photography, jewelry, and mixed media.

This year’s event will feature the Big Heart Lounge, but it also will be virtual. Those who purchase a Big Heart Lounge ticket will receive exclusive admission to a live, virtual preview of the artwork hosted by Joe Birch from 6 to 7 p.m. on February 6th. They also will receive a valentine box that includes a bottle of wine and other goodies, a yard sign, an event T-shirt, and first bids on all artwork. Big Heart Lounge tickets are $200.

Last year’s event, which was held February 15th at Memphis College of Art, was one of the last big fundraisers before the COVID pandemic shut everything down. That event, which featured 111 hearts and drew 450 guests, was a huge success. They raised a record-breaking $98,000, Wight says.

Virginia Stallworth is executive director of the Memphis Child Advocacy Center.

A Works of Heart link will be posted closer to the date, but those interested in purchasing tickets to the Big Heart Lounge or want other information can go to memphiscac.org/worksofheart.

Napapon Santirojprapai (aka Pam Santi) shows ‘Zen Heart,’ a wooden heart with wire and acrylic paint.

Ken Woodmansee’s ‘Funnel of Love’ is, in the artist’s own words, “A reminder of the power of love, especially during times of chaos, crisis, and uncertainty.’

Connie Hendrix’s ‘Suppression’ is about the many forms of suppression experienced during the historical year of 2020.

David Simmons ‘Hendrix: Star Spangled Banner’ is No. 18 in a series represents a “salute to democracy.” It recalls the definitive rendition of ‘The Star-Spangled Banner’ as performed by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock in 1969 — a “powerful dawn to anew day in America.”

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Alex Paulus Gets Show in French Gallery

‘Just Enjoying Some Alone Time’ by Alex Paulus

Memphis artist Alex Paulus will show his paintings December 9th at Cohle Gallery in Paris.

“I just connected with them through Instagram,” says Paulus, 39. “They asked me to send some images of stuff I had available. I’m represented by three different galleries right now. A lot is promised to those galleries. I sent [Cohle] 10 images and they picked five that they liked.”

‘These Are My Best Friends’ by Alex Paulus

He researched the Paris gallery to make sure it wasn’t a vanity gallery. “I always check ‘cause I get emails from galleries who say they found my stuff on Instagram, and they’ll say I have to pay a yearly fee to have it stuck in a show or something. So, I’m really aware of galleries like that.”

Paulus, who usually contacts artists represented by the gallery to make sure everything is legitimate, says that the work by Cohle Gallery artists is usually “really brightly colored or slightly poppy. I think some of the other artists they represent are street artists. One of them is just called ‘Nasty.’ ‘Monkey Bird’ is another. But then a lot of the others are real names.”

Paulus messaged the gallery and introduced himself. “They said they loved it and would send me an email about a show.”

That was just three weeks ago. He sent them 10 paintings, ranging from one he did in 2015 to one he painted a month ago. “My style has kind of bounced around from the sort of poppy, kind of cartoonish stuff, to a little more surreal,” he says.

The five paintings Cohle Gallery chose “all happened to be similar. Like a color palette or style.”

‘Observing the Useless Collector’ by Alex Paulus

One of his paintings is the whimsical “Just Enjoying Some Alone Time” which — discreetly — shows a man on a toilet. “I just get inspiration from different people. Like my friends or family saying things to me that jump out at me and I’ll put a note on it on my phone. It makes me think of a painting title or some kind of imagery I’ll  be able to put into a painting. Other times I’ll get it from older movies or just weird lines in movies or TV shows that I’m watching.”

Asked where he got the idea for “Just Enjoying Some Alone Time,” Paulus says, “I think it was my brother. He’s got four kids and I think he likes to just go in there and read magazines and look at his phone for a while while to get a little alone time. I think a lot of people do that who have kids.”

 “Fantastic Shot,” which shows the Fantastic Four playing golf, is a new work he sent, Paulus says. “I recently got really obsessed with these Marvel Masterpiece cards, like trading cards, from when I was younger.”

‘Fantastic Shot’ by Alex Paulus

 When the pandemic hit, I thought, “Maybe I could make some goofy Marvel paintings and make my own set of these. I only made five or six. I got burned out pretty quickly.”

A native of Perryville, Missouri, Paulus got his masters in 2009 from Memphis College of Art. He’s recently been working on some new ideas for different series of paintings, but he’s also been doing paintings of houses through realtor Morgan Pippin. “She gives them to her clients as gifts when they close on their house,” he says.

Paulus also teaches classes online at Southwest Tennessee Community College, where he is an assistant professor of fine arts. “I’ve been teaching at home since March. I have three classes that meet Monday, Tuesday, and Friday.  And then I have two fully-online classes, where I email them and they work on stuff at home.”

Asked if he might use the name “Paulus Bunion — which he called himself when he performed as a one-man band 10 years ago — as his Cohle Gallery artist name, Paulus says, “I think I’ll leave that in the music scene.”

Jamie Harmon

Alex Paulus

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MCA Hosts Final BFA Exhibition Online

CREDIT: Emily Warren

Emily Warren

‘The Station’ by Emily Warren, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 24 x 36″

Earlier this month, Memphis College of Arts’ final graduating class attended the school’s very last commencement ceremony, albeit in a virtual setting. An especially unprecedented and poignant moment in itself, that was not the only final tradition the now-shuttered arts college had to take online.

Toward the end of every semester, each graduating class contributes works of art to a final BFA exhibition, which is typically held on campus grounds. This year, however, the exhibition, entitled “Intrepidly Yours,” is being featured on MCA’s 2020 BFA website, featuring works from 33 students ranging in media and genres from comics books to animations to sculptural works.

“Every semester, Tom Lee, who’s one of our professors and who is tasked with working with the seniors, and I worked with the students from the first week of the semester getting this together,” says Olivia Wall, coordinator of external engagement for MCA. “We were about halfway through the process when everything went a little crazy. The students had done half of the work, but then all of a sudden, we had to very quickly shift to working with the students to make sure that whatever they were making could come to fruition online.”

To pull off the final exhibition, Wall and Lee worked with students and their advisors to develop plans to make sure they were able to get their final BFA contributions finished, despite possible lack of materials and space. Larry D. Springfield, Jr.

‘The Shaman of Oz’ by Larry D. Springfield, Jr., 2019, digital illustration, 14 x 11″

“For the most part, every single student was able to have their work done in a way that they wanted it to,” she says. “I know there were a few students who maybe had to do a couple less things than they were planning just because they weren’t able to get materials or they weren’t able to make sculptures at home.”

Despite the challenges, students were still able to develop works pertaining to their degrees in sculpture, painting and drawing, illustration, graphic design, comics, metals, and animation.

Wall, who is an alumna of MCA herself, says that she remembers the importance of participating in her senior art show, and while MCA’s final graduating class did it a little differently this semester, they’re still getting the experience, plus some new skills for the future.

“This is just like a traditional show,” she says. “It is something for their resume. It is a professional experience. And, differently from an in-person show, whereas that’s a whole different way of working with a gallery, there are so many galleries and museums that are switching to online. And even how students are applying for jobs is going to be more online-focused. This gave them the opportunity to learn how to submit files digitally and how to size and format their work so that it translates well on the internet. I think those are skills that are very important, particularly with the situation at hand.”

“Intrepidly Yours: The Spring 2020 BFA Exhibition” is on view until February 2021 through mca2020bfa.com.

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Eggleston, Finders Keepers, Wild Game Dinner, Pegasus

It was great hanging out with the great William Eggleston at a reception prior to his show, ‘William Eggleston and Jennifer Steinkamp: At Home at the Dixon,’ at Dixon Gallery and Gardens.

William Eggleston was the guest of honor at a reception, which was held January 25th, for his family, friends, and supporters at Dixon Gallery and Gardens. The reception was held prior to his show “William Eggleston and Jennifer Steinkamp: At Home at the Dixon.” The exhibit juxtaposes floral, garden, and still life imagery in late-19th and early-20th century paintings with Eggleston photos and Steinkamp computer animations.

Guests greeted the dapper Eggleston, 80, who sat on a sofa during the reception.

They knew Eggleston was coming to the reception, says Chantal Drake, Dixon director of development and communications. They were anticipating his visit, she says.

People enjoyed meeting him and “being in the room with him and his work.”

Dixon director Kevin Sharp says, “It was an honor to have William Eggleston attend the reception for our current exhibitions at the Dixon. And, speaking personally, it was very special to meet and have a little time with a figure of his importance in the history of art.”


Michael Donahue

Jennifer Steinkamp

Michael Donahue

William Eggleston reception

Michael Donahue

William Eggleston reception

MIchael Donahue

Zane Myer-Thornton and Bren Pepke at Finders Keepers

Bren Pepke and Zane Myer-Thornton carried a massive 48-inch-by-60-inch abstract painting out of Memphis College of Art during the school’s Finders Keepers event. The sale and auction consisted of the school’s entire collection of artwork.

She was carrying the painting for her father, Mark Pepke, who bought the Mary Reed painting on the first night of the sale, which ran January 25th to the 29th.

“We were carrying it to the car ’cause it wouldn’t fit in their car,” Bren says. “And it ended up not fitting in our car, either. We had to get another car. But we got it home.”

The Pepke family — Mark and his wife, Amy, and Bren’s sister Karis — showed up early. Mark spotted the painting, which he immediately recognized. “It was in my office for five years,” he says.

Mark, who was director of student life and housing, says, “I didn’t know it was there. I knew the collection was being sold. I wasn’t necessarily looking for that particular painting. But when I saw it on the wall I was like, ‘It’s going home with me.’”

The painting has sentimental value for him, but Mark says he also likes it. “I’m not much of a fan of abstract art, but I like the line quality in the painting with the color.”

He likes the “heavy dark line contrasted with the red and orange.” And, he says, “It has a definite focal point, so your eyes go right to it and wander around a few areas.”

It was a bit stressful after he saw the painting at the sale. “The students were putting up a ladder. I thought they were putting up a ladder to get it off the wall ’cause there was a lady with them.”

Mark put his hand on the painting as if to say, “Hey, it’s mine. Stand back.”

It turned out the woman was interested in something else.

The College of Art also meant a lot to his children, Mark says. The sale had “an element of a sad passing of time for us. The College of Art has been a big part of their lives since they were probably 3, 4, and 5 years old. They’ve grown up down in the hallways with me in my office. They’ve taken classes there. We’ve gone there almost every year for Holiday Bazaar.”

So, where is the painting going? “It’s too big for the house. It’s contrary a little bit to her (his wife’s) color scheme. So I’m putting it in my office now.”

Opening night resembled a Black Friday sale of very cool items. People crowded around tables filled with artwork.

Reed Malkin, one of the guests on the jam-packed opening night, says, “The art was getting in the front door.”

Memphis College of Art president Laura Hine estimates 1,000 to 1,500 people attended  opening night. “It’s very hard to say how many people were here on Saturday night,” she says. “Before we opened the doors, the line was down the front stairs wrapped around the south side of our lawn all the way to the Brooks Museum.”

And, Hine says, “A 30-year faculty member said he’s never seen the gallery as crowded.”

As for how much money was raised, Hine says, “We are not disclosing the amount of money raised during the sale. The sale proceeds are being added to MCA’s operating budget while we teach our remaining students who will graduate in May.

“It was a very emotional experience for the MCA community, especially in the preparation phase when we had to catalog decades of artists’ work. The only thing that made it palatable was that the artwork would find homes and that people will preserve and appreciate it for decades to come.”


Michael Donahue

Finders Keepers

Michael Donahue

Finders Keepers

Michael Donahue

Jimmy Crosthwait at Finders Keepers

Michael Donahue

Laura Hine, David Lusk, Henry Doggrell, and Carissa Hussong at Finders Keepers

Michael Donahue

Finders Keepers

Michael Donahue

Mystic Krewe of Pegasus Mardi Gras Ball XVII

Joseph Osment Is king Pegasus XVII, and Jane Pratt Park is queen Pegasus XVII of the Mystic Krewe of Pegasus.

They were announced at the Mardi Gras Ball XVII “A Night Under the Big Top,” which was held January 25th at Minglewood Hall.

Mystic Krewe of Pegasus is “a Mardi Gras krewe here in Memphis,” says Ball Captain Jesse James. “We are a gay Mardi Gras krewe, but we are way more than a gay Mardi Gras krewe.”

And, he says, “We run the whole gamut. We have straight people. We try to have the most diversity possible.”

About 500 people attended the event, which was a fundraiser for the Shelby County Drug Foundation, says Ball Captain Jesse James.

James didn’t have the total amount of money raised at the ball, but, Jesse says, “We will do a check presentation in April because we still collect money for them through the end of March.”

And, he says, “Up to this year, not knowing what we raised [at the ball], we’ve raised over $300,000 for charities over the past 17 years.”


Joseph Osment and Jane Pratt Park at the Mystic Krewe of Pegasus Mardi Gras Ball XVII

Michael Donahue

Mystic Krewe of Pegasus Mardi Gras Ball XVII

Michael Donahue

Mystic Krewe of Pegasus Mardi Gras Ball XVII

Michael Donahue

Laura and Nick Scott at the Mystic Krewe of Pegasus Mardi Gras Ball XVII

MIchael Donahue

Conrad Phillips at Season’s End Wild Game Dinner & Fundraiser

Conrad Phillips hosted his first dinner at Caritas Community Center & Cafe, where he is chef de cuisine.

His Seasonal Wild Game Dinner, which was held January 25th at the center, featured hors d’oeuvres and four courses paired with wine. Guests began with bacon-wrapped quail breast with a porcini glaze and alligator poppers with chipotle ranch and continued with elk bolognese, duck confit/duck fat Yukon mashed potatoes, and herb-crusted rack of wild boar with smoked gouda grits and roasted asparagus.

Dessert was chocolate Grand Marnier duck crème brûlée. Linda Smith, one of the guests, says, “It was one of the best I’ve ever had.”

During his remarks, Phillips told the diners, “I like to give people something they’re not familiar with. And do it in a way they can accept it — not have to be afraid to try it.”


Michael Donahue

Season’s End Wild Game Dinner & Fundraiser

                                  WE SAW YOU AROUND TOWN
Michael Donahue

Lester Quinones Jr. of the University of Memphis Tigers and Scout at Gibson’s Donuts

                           

MIchael Donahue

Holly Long, Lindsey Gammel, Shawn Whitworth, Lauren Poteet, and Laura Davidson at Gibson’s Donuts. They work or have worked at Ella David Salon.

Michael Donahue

Autozoners from Brazil and Memphis at lunch Downtown

Categories
News News Blog

15 Years On: Catching Up with the ‘Overton Park Billboard Girl’

CREDIT: Toby Sells/Jenny Slaver

Toby Sells/Jenny Slaver

Then and now: Jenny Slaver did not know she’d become the ‘MCA billboard girl’ back then and didn’t know the billboard was still up now.

You know Jenny Slaver, even if you don’t know her name. You may even see her every day.

A lock of her blonde bangs obscures one eye, but the other eye is bright, alert, and hopeful, a student’s eye ever-watchful for the future’s horizon. She stands behind a canvas painted with two vases and a colorful bouquet of red, sweet-smelling flowers.

Her no-nonsense, plaid button-up is rolled to the elbows. Paint spatters her jeans. A black hair tie wraps her wrist. It’s clear Jenny Slaver is not afraid to get her hands dirty, to get to work.

Someone else, a classmate maybe, stands behind her in a black hoodie at an easel of their own, but the person’s back is turned away from the camera. But Jenny has turned away from her canvas to look at you, sitting in your car on Sam Cooper as you drive back into Midtown.

And there she’s been. For nearly 15 years, Jenny Slaver has looked from that Memphis College of Art (MCA) billboard at Sam Cooper and East Parkway, greeting you back to town on your travels from all points east.

Toby Sells

The Overton Park billboard at Sam Cooper and East Parkway.

She never knew she’d be on that billboard. When contacted this week, she didn’t know the billboard was still up.

“I’ve been immortalized as a 19-year-old!” Slaver wrote in an email from Atlanta, where she’s learning to weld metal sculpture. ”Yes, its totally weird. But I’m honored to be a tiny part of Overton Park history. Plus side, that billboard reminds old friends to call me every now and then.”
[pullquote-1] Slaver has moved around since her time at MCA, from which she graduated in 2007. She lived for a time on a ranch in Texas but recently sold it to travel. She now resides in “sunny California” but, again, taking some time to learn welding in Georgia.

She’s been busy. She paints, of course, and her work can be found at jennymakesart.com. She’s also an educator and an illustrator, now working on her fourth book.

Kim Robbins

Slaver at work.

Local internet denizens recently wondered ”whatever happened to the MCA billboard girl.” A local source knew her (digitally, anyway) and pointed us to her website. The Flyer contacted Slaver and sent her some questions, which she graciously answered. But there was also one thing Jenny Slaver really wanted Memphians to know. But you’ll have to read on to find out exactly what.

Memphis Flyer: So, you were 19 at the time? When did the billboard go up?

Jenny Slaver: It seems like a lifetime ago, but I was probably around 19, maybe a sophomore in college at MCA. I graduated in 2007, so most likely in 2004. It was so long ago time has escaped me.

MF: Did you know MCA was going to put you on a billboard? How did they approach you about it?

JS: One day I was working on an oil painting in the studio at MCA and a photographer walked by and snapped one photo. I didn’t think much of this, since, well, it is art school so that is a very common occurrence.

Soon after, I was told nonchalantly by administration that there was a photo of me being added to some MCA promotional material, possibly a poster.

I had seen many posters, flyers, and catalogs from the school with many students on them so I didn’t think much of that either … until a few weeks later when I was driving down Sam Cooper and nearly swerved. I was definitely not expecting to be on a billboard. The school did not officially inform me nor compensate me for the image.

MF: What was the response to it at the time?

JS: I was a student ambassador on a full tuition scholarship at the time, so one of my jobs was to go to college fairs around the area to promote the school. It was odd having my own face on the promotional material, slightly embarrassing, but it made for a good story.

Toby Sells

Jenny Slaver on the MCA billboard.

There was definitely a dark side to this, mainly some unwanted attention from men in public places. I was approached many times in public and at school, “Hey aren’t you the Overton Park billboard girl?” Which was fine until several male students frequently began questioning, “Did you even paint that? It looks totally staged. I bet that is someone else’s art,” and so on …

As a female artist, I was no stranger to this behavior but expected more from students in a liberal arts college. It was very frustrating, but I decided to ignore the sexist remarks and move forward with my creative endeavors, unfazed.
[pullquote-3] Let me say for the record that I was surrounded with support from many amazing fellow students of all genders who did not question my abilities based on my gender. It’s just a shame when a handful of creeps try to get to you. Every woman has felt this in some way, sadly.

Memphis College of Art was and is an amazing place full of creative energy and support, and I am honored to have been a small part of its history. My heart aches that MCA will be closing its doors forever soon.

MF: You said you were surprised to know it was still up. You didn’t know? Is that weird to know it’s been up all that time?

JS: I’m surprised it’s been up this long! I’ve been immortalized as a 19-year-old! Yes, it’s totally weird. But I’m honored to be a tiny part of Overton Park history. Plus side, that billboard reminds old friends to call me every now and then.

MF: What are you up to now? Where do you live? What do you do?

JS: As I’m writing this, I’m spending time in Cabbagetown in Atlanta, Georgia, learning to weld metal sculpture. I travel a lot these days, but currently I live and work in sunny southern California.

I am a painter, educator and illustrator. I am working on a new series of botanical oil paintings, and I am just finishing up my fourth book (illustrator, not the author) about a day in the life of a little girl living in South Sudan. A portion of proceeds from the book will go to drill water wells in the war-torn villages of South Sudan.

Jenny Slaver/jennymakesart.com

A sample of Slaver’s recent work.

You can check me out on Instagram @Jenny_Makes_Art or my website jennymakesart.com for more info.

MF: Your art looks amazing online. How would you describe it for someone who hasn’t seen it?

JS: My paintings are motivated by nature as inspiration, typically very vibrant and expressive. I want to reveal the poetic moments I feel in nature to create work that is full of life and visual pleasure. I love to experiment with different mediums and textures in my work, letting the feel of the material shine through.

MF: Tell me a little about your work with horses.

JS: I lived on a ranch in Texas for several years and just recently sold it so I could travel. It was a bold move, but wanderlust was calling.

Jenny Slaver/Instagram

Slaver stands on a horse.

In the future I hope to plant my roots again with a few horses. But for now I’m on the road with my Husky, Skye, and the love of my life, Jason.

Horses are my muse, they will always be a big part of me. I ride whenever I can and still have one beautiful rescue mare back home in Texas that my mom, Charlotte, cares for with all her heart.

MF: Anything you want to tell the many thousands of Memphians who see/have seen you every day?

JS: Yes, I painted that (piece of art on the billboard)! And I hope you all are encouraged to create, too. Now, go make art!

Categories
Art Art Feature

Horn Island: The Last Show

CREDIT: Jon W. Sparks

Bill Nelson’s Walking Back to Waters Crossing With Cordie, oil on canvas, at the Horn Island exhibition at Memphis College of Art

There will be a lot of “lasts” at Memphis College of Art this coming year. The school closes for good after the next spring commencement with the remaining students graduating and going on their way, alumni to a memory.



As fall gets underway, the first of the year’s lasts begins with the 35th Horn Island Exhibition, one of MCA’s most distinctive endeavors. In the early 1980s, professor Bob Riseling liked the idea of students going on an excursion to the uninhabited barrier island off the Gulf Coast near Ocean Springs, Mississippi. There was a fitting historic resonance: Noted artist Walter Inglis Anderson (1903-1965) spent a good deal of the last 20 years of his life going to and from Horn Island, portraying the animals and landscapes. The Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs keeps his memory alive and his art protected.



Riseling imagined students, faculty, and alumni going for several days to the island where they would observe and absorb the environment while roughing it the whole way. To this day there are no amenities on the island, so everyone  camps and creates with the idea of coming back to complete artworks inspired by the experience. Riseling led the expeditions for years and then handed off the direction to MCA faculty member Don DuMont, who remembers well how it changed him.



“The first year I was adjunct here at MCA, well in my forties,” DuMont says. “That experience on Horn Island took me all the way back to when I was really young, to all the islands I had been on throughout my service years. Things just flooded back into me. And I started looking at my life and it just took a big 180.”



Jon W. Sparks

Don DuMont’s Horn Memories Spirit Box. Walnut, cedar, pewter, found objects, at the Horn Island exhibition at Memphis College of Art

For many of those who have trekked to Horn Island over the years, it is revelatory in its own way. “Some of them have never camped before,” DuMont says. “Some of them had never even been to the coast. Some of them never even been on a boat.”



DuMont went to Horn Island three times when Riseling was running the show, and the senior professor saw the effect. “He told me, ‘I think you’re the one to take this over,'” DuMont says. “And I’ve done it 14 years. It’s been just a tremendous opportunity and something that’s changed my life greatly, and then to be able to see all of this wonderful work all these years. All of these people that have participated feel that it really had big significance in their lives, too. So it’s pretty damn sweet.”



This year’s show runs through October 4th, with the reception this Saturday from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at MCA. As in the past, there will be refreshments in the form of barbecued Spam and Gatorade, the essential sustenance of the art adventurers.



Students are required to do four to six pieces for the show. They have sponsors, and the idea is to give the benefactors choices in selecting a work for themselves. The sponsors are typically art collectors and understand the value of a visit to Horn Island. Sometimes they’re happy to forego having a piece — they’d rather the student have the experience on the island and then have a chance to sell their work.



Jon W. Sparks

Scottie Wyatt’s gyotaku print Pompano, at the Horn Island exhibition at MCA

That experience, DuMont says, is different every time, whether veteran or newbie. “We step on a different island every year,” he says. “As a matter of fact, every morning when you step out of your tent, it’s a different island.” Nature does what it pleases and it presents the artists with fresh visions and not just a few lessons. He mentions Hurricane Katrina that blew through the region in 2005. “Pre-Katrina, the island was very lush. After Katrina, we witnessed a significant die-off.” The devastation came, he says, because there wasn’t significant rain for several months after the hurricane. “So that island just sat there and had salt water that killed off a lot of those trees. Over the years, we watched the island come back, and this year in particular, it seemed really, really lush. I think it had a lot to do with our wet fall and winter.”



Each artist takes away whatever they will from the excursion and then spends the summer working on their art. There is certainly no theme imposed on them, although DuMont says, “I think people really were reflecting a lot, maybe thinking about the past, and thinking about what they’ll do now.” And then when the pieces started coming in to MCA to be hung or placed, DuMont noticed a thread that ran through many of them. “Reflection literally shows up a lot in work,” he says. He points to a symmetrical work made of cut paper. “It’s almost like a mirror,” he says, speculating that perhaps it being the last show spurred thoughts about past, present, and future, which then emerged as balance, reflection, and symmetry in the artworks.



Peyton LaBauve’s porcelain Don DuMonster (Smoking Pipe) at this year’s Horn Island exhibition

There is also much diversity in the show, DuMont says. “It’s all like-minded people there, so you would think they’re all going to be doing the same thing. But that’s so far from the truth. We have beautiful jewelry, we have ceramic work that’s phenomenal. The other thing is that it’s not just traditional style work, but there are all kinds of mediums here.” Painting, drawing, photography, printmaking, animation, fabric. “New technologies, old methods, just a wonderful blend,” he says.