Exhibitions

SMOKE, SAND, STARS IN YOUR EYES

VERSA Gallery / 1918 Union Ave., Mercy Junction Justice and Peace Center October 5, 2018 - October 19, 2018

David Onri Anderson, Lauren Taylor

VERSA is excited to announce Smoke, Sand, Stars In Your Eyes, an exhibition by David Onri Anderson & Lauren Taylor.

1. The retina contains nerve cells that respond to light by sending impulses to the brain. Images are formed. When we see objects, we do not see them on the retina, rather they appear within the space in front of us; within the same space our bodies occupy and move through.  Whooosh!

Did you hear about the dyslexic insomniac agnostic?  They stayed up all night wondering if there really is a dog

Softer against dust and distance Outside the yellow Moon  Turns a blue shadow into a pillowcase

2. Illusions are defined as any perception that does not agree with objective measurements or observations. They produce errors in perception, causing us to develop a false impressions of the facts presented to our senses. 

I’m blue most of the time Sky blue Indigo when it hurts like a bad tooth Sunshine against my will Thank God and the Devil made up Loving their new intuition Hating what they forgot to hold Constellations networking Drinking and smoking Trying to eat healthy Leaving animals alone Except when they make direct eye contact Light a flame until the morning star Resting as a candle

3. Hallucinations, not to be confused with illusions, can be objects, figures, paintings, old rags, dirty socks, banana peels, yellow moons, lurking shadows, burning candles, or other mental images we are aware of but which do not arise from the stimulation of our senses. They are not caused by external stimuli acting on the sense organs. 

A car pulled up behind me I could hear its heartbeat loudly


David Onri Anderson (b. 1993, Nashville, TN) is an artist living and working in Nashville, TN. He loves nature and cooking. He graduated from Watkins College of Art in 2016. Anderson’s work has been exhibited by Patrick Painter Gallery (Los Angeles, CA), ZieherSmith Gallery (Manhattan, NY), David Lusk Gallery (Nashville, TN), Chicago Art Book Fair (Chicago, IL), Atlanta Contemporary (Atlanta, GA), Elephant Gallery (Nashville, TN), among others. He will have a solo exhibition at Patrick Painter Gallery in March 2019. Anderson is co-curator of mild climate, and founder/head curator of The Electric Shed in Nashville, TN.

Lauren Taylor (b. 1992, Nashville, TN) is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Brooklyn, NYC. She received her BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2014. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally by Freddy (Harris, NY), bahamas biennale (Detroit, MI), Andrew Rafacz Gallery (Chicago, IL), Paris, London, Hong Kong (Chicago, IL), Green Gallery (Milwaukee, WI), Syndicate at Harbinger Projects (Reykjavík, Iceland), Hosting Projects (Venice, CA), Red Zone (Los Angeles, CA), mild climate (Nashville, TN), among others. Taylor's work will be included in a forthcoming exhibition at Safe Gallery (Brooklyn, NY) in November.


All content courtesy of the artists.