THE FOCUS

Desmond Lewis primarily uses industrial materials in his work as he correlates the invisible appearance of structural materials in buildings with the concealed structural importance of African Americans in the United States. Through the creation of fabricated and carved concrete sculptures, his work abstractly addresses the conversations of race, equality, and community uplift. Additionally, Desmond fabricates large scale sculptures that seek to enhance public spaces in developing communities. Desmond Lewis, Studio Visit, December 2018—January 2019 Desmond Lewis, Studio Visit,...

Lester Julian Merriweather (b.1978) is a Memphis-based visual artist. He attended the Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. He holds an MFA from Memphis College of Art and a BA from Jackson State University. Merriweather has exhibited extensively throughout the U.S. at various venues such as the Studio Museum in Harlem, NYC, TOPS Gallery, CrosstownArts and Powerhouse Memphis, Diverseworks in Houston, Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans, and the Atlanta Contemporary. He has also exhibited abroad at the...

Rachel Bubis: Your photographic-based work explores the “subjective nature of domestic photographs”. How did you get interested in this subject? Kelly Hider: Even though my background is in painting and drawing, I have always had powerful photography influences. I am from Rochester, NY, home of the Brownie camera, George Eastman Kodak, and the George Eastman House, which is an incredible museum, movie theatre, film and photo restoration center and archive. I took photography classes during undergrad at the Visual Studies Work...