Exhibitions
COME TOGETHER
David Lusk Gallery Memphis / 97 Tillman St. June 11 - July 20th
This summer David Lusk Gallery presents Come Together, a group exhibition highlighting non-traditional mediums to tell the story of physical objects and spaces. Joining together several artists, all with roots in the American South, this exhibition delves into the individual works while also exploring how the pieces collectively work together, allowing viewers the opportunity to contemplate the dynamic relationships, paradoxes, and interconnections.
For the duration of this show the gallery will be transformed into a space for viewers to interact with and observe these works, some functional, some decorative. Discovering the materials and tools used to create the artworks adds to the viewing experience: a dining table created from pressed volcanic ash, adorned with fruit created from a 3D gel pen, and a wall installation of reconstructed street posters.
Hanging on the walls, viewers can look forward to collages from Nashville artist Billy Renkl. Groundcover, this newest body of work is made from botanical silhouettes on antique and vintage envelopes. The collection of work analog spreads of ideas, the envelopes beautifully suited to that task as the way that a letter covers ground. The transient nature of this collection, and the ideas of travel interact seamlessly with wallpaper installations by Nashville artist Alena Mehić. The wallpapers are based on postcard drawings of interiors created by Mehić which have been meticulously broken apart and collaged together to form cohesive, functional wall decor. The original drawings are incorporated into the installations, as they hang on the wallpaper. Inspired by her immigration experience to Nashville as a young girl from Bosnia, the wallpaper evokes a sense of belonging and home, reflecting on the fragments that define a person's existence in certain spaces.
Also in the gallery is the collaged work of artist Galen Gibson-Cornell which offers another unique viewing experience of collage, as he repurposes found materials to create collaged installations. These can offer interesting insights into the deconstruction of found materials, which are then put through a meditative and methodical process to create the final result. In contrast to Gibson-Cornell’s fragments that are assembled to convey a larger image are pieces from Charles Hickey, whose work presents objects as iconography and allows the viewer to observe each individual object and observe the spatial interactions that are happening between them. Created with 3D gel pens, which produce a plastic-looking fiber, to create what he sees as the “brushstrokes” that compose each piece.
Along with his pieces hanging on the wall, Hickey also creates replicas of everyday objects, such as fruits and vegetables. These cartoonish recreations are contextualized through artist Tyler René Angelo, a Nashville-based sculptor whose sculptures serve as dynamic artistic devices, challenging viewers' preconceived notions about what an artwork can be. The interaction between Angelo’s functional dining table, upon which the fruit sits, and the decorative wall installations which mimic the pattern of the sculpted table top, invites viewers into a furnished and decorated space, suggesting they can be one and the same.
We are thrilled to exhibit this work which invites viewers to engage with a unique collection that redefines, reconfigures, and preserves the spaces we inhabit. The exhibition promises a blend of high-quality, smart work that is also accessible and fun. Join us in Nashville from June 11 to July 23, 2024, to experience this dynamic presentation.
Gallery hours are Tu-Sa, 10-5. For more information or visuals, please contact Judith Jessup at 615-780-9990 or judith@davidluskgallery.com.
Image: Alena Mehic, A Former Constellation, 2024
