Exhibitions

LAWRENCE MATTHEWS: TO DISAPPEAR AWAY: PLACES SOON TO BE NO MORE

Dixon Gallery and Gardens / 4339 Park Ave. January 12, 2020 - April 5, 2020

Lawrence Matthews 

Lawrence Matthews is a Memphis-born artist whose work encompasses nearly every medium of artistic production, including painting, collage, ready-made sculpture, music, film, and photography. In addition to his own practice, Matthews is a member of the Memphis arts community.

To Disappear Away: Places soon to be no more highlights Matthews’ most recent work in color photography. Through sixteen images, he traces the changing landscape in black neighborhoods around Memphis as a result of gentrification. His lens captures both the people of these communities as well as the physical landscapes they inhabit. In doing so, he highlights the tension between nature and development through vacant lots and overgrown spaces. The resulting photographs represent the complexity of lived experiences—the haunting reminders of things past and the hopeful openness of things to come. They also illustrate the conflict between infrastructural decay and the beauty of being part of a community.