At the Brooks Museum exhibit “Un/Bound,” the adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” doesn’t apply. This is a collection that asks the viewer to judge a book not only by its cover but by its illustrations and even its bindings.
“Un/Bound” features illustrations of classic stories by Poe and Hemingway as well as work by pop artist Andy Warhol.
The exhibit traces the evolving relationship between text and form. It begins with a volume of Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock, with a cover by Aubrey Beardsley. Pope’s poem parodies the traditional epic, and Beardsley’s illustrations follow suit, crafting a sly take on the antiquated pomp of the gilded cover.
As the collection enters the later years of the 20th century, the interplay between image and text becomes more pronounced. The exhibit features a number of pieces from the 1960 series 21 Etchings and Poems, in which illustrators and poets worked in tandem to create a unified object. Here illustration and text share space and primacy, competing for the viewer’s interest.
Other works, like the 1968 copy of the multimedia S.M.S. magazine, push print works beyond recognizable boundaries. The magazine, which features contributions from Marcel Duchamp, opens like a box to reveal a number of objects.
One of the more unusual works comes from photographer Robert Mapplethorpe who produced a bound volume of Rimbaud’s A Season in Hell. The book is interspersed with eight photogravures of Mapplethorpe, whose sensually satanic self-portraits both echo and update Rimbaud.
“Un/Bound” is a small exhibit, but it’s a huge reminder that the book is not a static art.
Through October 23rd
Thursday, 18
There’s an art opening from 4 to 7 p.m. today for jewelry maker and abstract artist Kate Kalsi. Kelley Hurt is the featured artist at tonight’s Sunset Atop the Madison concert. An opening banquet, featuring Isaac Hayes and Ruby Wilson, kicks off the Hank Aaron Celebrity Sports Weekend. The weekend includes a golf tournament and a 5K on Friday and the Hank Aaron Celebrity Sports Breakfast on Saturday. Proceeds benefit the United Negro College Fund. The title character of the novel Junior Ray is a lawman in the Mississippi Delta whose adventures get him stuck in quicksand and somehow involved with something that has to do with a submarine – and that ain’t the half of it. Junior Ray author John Pritchard, an English professor at Southwest Tennessee Community College, will be signing books at Davis-Kidd tonight at 6 p.m. The Homebrew Club of Memphis is holding its monthly meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at 741 N. White Station. “You sank my battleship!”: The North Branch of the Memphis Public Library is Having Fun with Board Games for kids ages 12 to 17 today at 4 p.m.
Friday, 19
Three years ago, Millington-based textile artist Arlene Blackburn met fellow artist Michele Hardy of Louisiana at an exhibit in Philadelphia. They decided then to put on what Blackburn calls their “dream show” – a juried exhibit of fine-art quilts that are cutting-edge but also sellable. “Fine Art Quilts 2005” opens tonight at Jay Etkin Gallery and features the work of 30 artists from across the county. One of the quilts is made entirely from wine labels; another uses digital images. Prices for the quilts range from $300 to $8,000. One of the jurors is noted textile artist Hollis Chatelain, who created a quilt specifically for the exhibit. She will attend the opening and will give a talk about the jury process at the gallery at 10 a.m. Saturday. There’s also a reception tonight for a photography show by The Memphis Camera Club at CBU’s Ross Gallery. Author Terry McMillan will be discussing her latest book, The Interruption of Everything, during a live taping of Book Talk at Central Library at 2 p.m. Barry Izsak is the president of the National Association of Professional Organizers. He’ll be signing his book, Organize Your Garage in No Time, at Barnes & Noble Wolfchase at 6 p.m.
Saturday, 20
This afternoon’s Beauty Queen Classic Luncheon and Fashion Show will feature beauty queens from around the region modeling goods from the Shops of Saddlecreek. Proceeds benefit St. Jude. It’s at The Peabody today from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Aristocrats, a documentary about variations on a very old and very raunchy joke (it can include incest, poop, bestiality – you know, the good stuff), is scheduled to open in Memphis on August 26th. This week, however, you’ve got Bob Stromberg, a minister and humorist who has appeared on the PAX network and done his act before the Promise Keepers. He’ll be performing at the Hope Church Concert Series tonight at 8 p.m. Perry Nicole Fine Art is hosting The Art of Caring, a reception and silent auction of work by local artists to raise money for the Baptist Trinity Hospice and Camp Good Grief, 5:30-7:30 p.m. It’s part two of the Blues on the Bluff concert, a fund-raiser for WEVL-FM 90 held each summer at the National Ornamental Metal Museum. Robert “Wolfman” Belfour, The Fieldstones, and DuWayne Burnside and the Mississippi Mafia will perform.
Sunday, 21
Vivian R. Jacobson is an Elvis fan. She also worked with painter Marc Chagall for 11 years. Today at 2 p.m. at the Dixon, Jacobson will present what is easily the most unusual event of the year: “An Afternoon with Elvis and Chagall.” Jacobson contends that Presley and Chagall were a lot alike and will back her theory with this multimedia presentation, which involves a slide show set to Elvis’ music as well as original music (piano and rock-and-roll klezmer) written for the occasion by New York composer Seth Weinstein. Oxford’s Yoknapatawpha Arts Council presents the Great Southern Rock Revival II, with music from Kevn Kenny, formerly of Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, Daybreakdown, and Willie & Me. The concert will be held at the Grove Amphitheatre on the Ole Miss campus and will run from 1 to 9 p.m.
Monday, 22
Charlotte Hurt performs tonight at Folk’s Folly.
Tuesday, 23
Take it easy.
Wednesday, 24
American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson in concert tonight at the Mud Island Amphitheater.
– Compiled by Susan Ellis
