THE FOCUS

"There has never been a free people, a free country, a real democracy on the face of this Earth. In a city of some 300,000 slaves and 90,000 so called free men, Plato sat down and praised freedom in exquisitely elegant phrases." - Lerone Bennett Jr. As a Chicano Artist, the recurrent themes are the subjugation of my community by the Dominant Culture and White Privilege. These works manifest themselves in the creation of counter-images and counter-definitions made in a self-determinant manner....

In my studio right now, I’m shifting gears into a new body of work. I had a solo show in March called Love Song at L Ross Gallery and all summer I’ve been thinking about how those paintings will be stepping stones into my new work. I’m in what I call ‘the in between time” when I build, stretch, and gesso a bunch of new canvases, draw a whole lot, make collages and little sculptures, sift, research, experiment...

My current work further explores interests in chance, impulse, and interruptions through the lens of cut and paste collage. Collage is my natural springboard for irreverent, reckless and silly decisions which yield detached yet inevitable unions of form. Images are appropriated from found print media, ephemera, as well as my own drawings, paintings, and other divergent investigations. - Kate Faulkner, 2017 Kate Faulkner, Studio Visit, July 2017 Kate Faulkner, Studio Visit, July 2017 Kate Faulkner was born in Carrboro, NC and currently lives...

My name is Carl E. Moore and I'm from Canton, MS. I currently live and work in Memphis, TN as an artist and designer. I attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Memphis College of Art where I received my BFA and MFA. Carl E. Moore, Studio Visit, June 2017 Carl E. Moore, Studio Visit, June 2017 Carl E. Moore, Studio Visit, June 2017 The work I’ve created over the last few years has dealt with identity an...

The things that inspire me are the absurd people and events I encounter on a daily basis. I'm basically holding up a funhouse mirror to the insanity/stupidity that I see. But I have to laugh at these things, otherwise it would be extremely depressing. - Alex Paulus, June 2017 Alex Paulus, Studio Visit, June 2017 Alex Paulus, Studio Visit, June 2017 Alex Paulus, Studio Visit, June 2017 Alex Paulus is originally from southeast Missouri, but has been a resident of Memphis, TN since 2007....

Lester Merriweather's collages use imagery from printed advertising material in fashion and lifestyle magazines. In re-contextualizing these images, Merriweather examines ads and media materials that promote notions of racial prominence and inferiority. Lester Merriweather, Studio Visit, June 2017 Lester Merriweather, Studio Visit, June 2017 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. Lester Merriweather, Studio Visit,...

“We are all migrants through time.” from Exit West by Mohsin Hamid Landscape had been a consistent touchstone in my work--sometimes overtly, sometimes not--perhaps related to having almost literally grown up in a National Park. Living in cities for my adult life, I collect images of our built environment in various stages of ruin and completion then prompts paintings addressing disparate issues of time, connection, restraint and abandon. The grid can contain most of these references, and the flat...

I create mixed media work with paint, resin, and found materials that explore the painting as an object. The paintings maneuver through all axes, and shared space is emphasized as compositions spill over the sides or towards the viewer. Zach Searcy, Studio Visit, June 2017 Zach Searcy, Studio Visit, June 2017 My work explores systems and their exposure of human pliability. Materials and textures become fixed in a way that the paintings become something that could be held or touched - a...