Exhibitions
SUMMER BREAK
Sheet Cake Gallery / 405 Monroe Ave. May 23 - July 26th
Justin Tyler Bryant, Sai Clayton, Coulter Fussell, Carl E. Moore, Melissa Wilkinson
Sheet Cake Gallery is pleased to present Summer Break, a new group exhibition.
In A Light in August, William Faulkner writes “It was hot; heat quivered up from the asphalt, giving to the familiar buildings about the square a nimbus quality, a quality of living and palpitant chiaroscuro.” Summer Break loosely conjures that hazy, Southern heat and habitual summer pastimes from lighting fireworks to lazing by the pool, with a touch of nostalgia in the mix.
Justin Tyler Bryant explores Black futuristic themes through works on paper and fresco. His recent work centers notions of fugitivity, improvisation, and negation to create a multifaceted and expansive understanding of African diasporic identity.
Sai Clayton's artistic practice is deeply rooted in both their Japanese heritage and Southern upbringing. Much of Clayton’s work joins classically American figures with iconic Japanese imagery, in varying degrees of realism. American football figures adorned with Japanese Noh masks examine the dichotomies of masculinity/sensitivity, spectacle/performance and the inner and outer self.
Coulter Fussell creates dream-like objects that blur perspectives of love, violence and place in a rural world through her idiosyncratic quilting practice. Her most recent chiffon works incorporate stills from crowd-sourced Snapchat videos taken by teenagers in Yalobusha County, MS.
Carl E. Moore uses color and composition to explore themes of identity, race, and social perception. Drawing inspiration from media and everyday life, he distills complex situations into their most essential narratives, allowing color and content to reshape the conversation and provoke reflection.
Melissa Wilkinson’s paintings use existing images sourced from the Hollywood golden era, late 70’s/early 80’s tomboys and heartthrobs, disco, and private Tumblr accounts - personas that shaped her identity. She queers these images through reassembled paintings combining masculine and feminine expressions, challenging traditional gender presentations.
Justin Tyler Bryant received his BFA from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and his MFA from the School of Art at Louisiana State University in 2018. Bryant attended the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and was a visiting scholar at Michigan State University Residential College receiving the Emerging Visions Residency in 2019. Bryant is based in Little Rock, AR and currently an Assistant Professor of Visual Art at Philander Smith University.
Sai Clayton is a Nashville-based visual artist and curator. Her recent exhibitions include: Neutral Zone, The Forge (2024); Game of Two Halves, Electric Shed (2024); HĀFU, Random Sample (2023); Art of the South, Zeitgeist (2022); and Drawers, Adult Contemporary (2022). Residencies include State Gallery, Stove Works, and the Hamblet Artist-in-Residence at Vanderbilt University. She is the Curatorial Director at COOP Gallery in Nashville, and the Programming Director at Arcade Arts. She was the 2021-22 Curatorial Fellow at the Frist Art Museum, and holds a B.A. in Visual Arts from Middle Tennessee State University.
Coulter Fussell received a BFA in Painting from the University of Mississippi, and hails from a long line of seamstresses and quiltmakers who the artist cites for her love of textiles. Her practice spans quilting, upholstery and mixed media works that intersect photography and sculpture. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums across the United States including The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art (Charleston, South Carolina), The Wiregrass Museum of Art, (Dothan, AL), and the Alabama Contemporary Art Center (Mobile, AL). Fussell’s work is also in the permanent collections of Columbus Museum of Art (Georgia) and the Mississippi Museum of Art (Jackson, MS). In 2023, Fussell was a Mississippi Arts Commission Individual Artist Fellowship recipient and inducted into the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters. She recently received a grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts to support new work and a book for a large-scale solo exhibition at the Mississippi Museum of Art in 2026.
Carl E. Moore is a graduate of the Memphis College of Art where he received his BFA and MFA. He is the recipient of the Emmett O'Ryan Award for Artistic Inspiration the Tennessee Artist Fellowship award from the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts and the 2022 International Pinnacle Award for the International Festival & Events Association, Gold for Best Commemorative Poster design, Memphis in May International Festival Salute to Ghana. He has exhibited in various galleries and museums in the Memphis area and around the country and his work can be found in several private and corporate collections. He has also curated and organized numerous exhibitions in small non-profit galleries, alternative and independent spaces, as well as judged local and national exhibitions. He is based in Memphis, TN.
Melissa Wilkinson is an artist and professor, teaching at various academic institutions and workshops throughout the country. She received her BFA in painting from Western Illinois University in 2002, and her MFA in painting from Southern Illinois University in 2006. Her work has been featured in wide reaching publications throughout the country including three editions of New American Paintings, The Curator’s Salon, and The Manifest Drawing Annual four times. She has shown in various galleries nationally and internationally including South Korea, Canada, India, and Art Basel Miami and has won numerous awards throughout her career. She serves as art faculty at St John Fisher University in Rochester, NY and is based in Warwick, NY.
Image: Coulter Fussell Fireworks on the Beach, 2025, Digital screenshot on chiffon, upholstery foam, neon polyester, thread, panel, 18 x 19 x 3 in (45.7 x 48.3 x 7.6 cm)
