It is an interesting experience to see the way art is viewed differently in different parts of a city. In Memphis, a city where the gallery scene is especially odd, this experience becomes especially interesting. If you start out on the eastern side and make your way west, you will notice dramatic shifts in the perception of art that are on par with the way you can see economic class shifts taking place across the span of single city streets here.
We started in East Memphis at the David Lusk Gallery. The placement of this gallery seems to give it away before you even enter the space. The gallery is located towards the back of a shopping center, sandwiched between two recognizable chain home decorating stores. This gives off the impression that this would be an appropriate place to go if you want to buy a painting to match the new curtains you just bought, but despite this impression, the work we see here is actually turns out to be engaging. There are two artists with work on display at David Lusk right now. Kat Gore holds it down in the front of the gallery, with a series of paintings mostly in the 30x30” range focusing on pattern. Seeing this work in a space like this conjures thoughts of the painting as decoration. However, there does seem to be a sort of valid conceptual dialogue taking place here. There is layering present in the pieces that seems to ask the viewer to contemplate what is being hidden and what is revealed. Sure enough, if we choose to read her statement, which turns out to be quite well written, this idea is central to the work. Behind the wall of the front desk, the work of painter J Ivcevich is on display. To me, this work seems immediately more appealing. The work shown here are mostly quiet paintings of urban scenes with Arabic script showing up here and there. The paint is handled in the manner of flatness, with embossed outlines that jut out from the canvas just enough to give them personality and establish a relationship with the viewer. There is a focus on looking up within the images, and the quietness of the flat colors in juxtaposition with urban themes seems to reflect on ideas of urban living, and the way you can stand in a crowd of strangers and still feel alone.
In the David Lusk Gallery, no ID tags are placed next to the paintings. On one hand, this is frustrating, because we don’t know the titles of the paintings. On the other, it is a relief that we don’t know the price of the paintings. This is very different from the next stop on our gallery tour, Perry Nicole Fine Art. If you go there now, you will find a collection of overpriced, ready to buy landscape paintings and abstract sculptures. If the David Lusk was a gallery geared towards the art-buying patron, at least it was either a patron with shame, or one legitimately interested in the work they are buying. The paintings and sculptures at Perry Nicole are above-the-mantle pieces at best, and the buyer who goes here is probably not ashamed of that. The cheapest painting here is over $800 and less than 10x10”, not counting the gaudy frame. If you’re in the mood to splurge, you can walk away with a mediocre bronze-cast abstract sculpture for a mere $45,000.
The Memphis art scene manages to redeem itself as we get back to it’s roots. Downtown at the Powerhouse, the Glen Ligon exhibition “Love and Theft” is on it’s last week of display. This exhibition is one that was long overdue in Memphis. The show combines a wallpaper installation of an twice-appropriated civil rights demonstration photograph, several black on gold text paintings of Richard Pryor jokes, the word “America” spelled out in the form of a flickering neon sign, along with other elements, all into a powerful installation that challenges that challenges racial stereotypes in a city where racism is still undeniably a huge problem. There are less commidifiable art objects in this show, but the ones that are (the neon "America" sign) are being bought by the likes of museums, rather than individual patrons. The Glen Ligon show is proof that Powerhouse is meeting it’s intended goal of bringing nationally recognized artists into the Memphis art scene, and furthering this idea by bringing artists this relevant to our experience.
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