Events

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

"Join us for Trolley Night! The Withers Collection Museum & Gallery has partnered with Leadership Memphis to display a monthly exhibit open to the public the last Friday of every month. 

The Withers Collection Museum & Gallery has partnered with Leadership Memphis to display a monthly exhibit open to the public the last Friday of every month. Join us for Trolley Night at the Leadership Memphis Gallery.
"

An exhibition by Tierra Gibson

Organized by the artist

A colorful and quirky celebration of the Earthly elements around us--$25.00, General Admission seating.

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

An exhibition by Tierra Gibson

Organized by the artist

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

New Moon Theatre Presents Agnes of God, by John Pielmeier, directed by Pamela Poletti.

February 8 - 24, 2019.

Tickets $20.00 Adults, $15.00 Seniors, Students, Military. Agnes of God tells the story of a novice nun Sister Agnes, a twenty-one-year-old nun, is accused of strangling her newborn child and discarding it into the wastebasket in her convent room. Her pregnancy and the birth of the child were kept secret, until Agnes is discovered unconscious and bleeding profusely outside her room. She insists that the child was the result of a virgin conception. A psychiatrist and the mother superior of the convent clash during the resulting investigation.

Cast:  Susan Brindley. Mother Miriam, Mariah Chase. Agnes, Kim Justis. Dr. Livingstone.

More info 901-484-3467

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.

“Cosas Diversas/ Diverse Things” - Nature, Animal, and Memphis area photography by Bruce McGee. Bruce is a frequent visitor to Memphis Botanic Gardens when he is not traveling around the world or working as an IT analyst. He has visited 16 countries and speaks several languages. His beautiful photographs display his appreciation for the diversity in the natural and human world. “For me, photography is a way to capture and share a specific moment in time that I have personally appreciated or just discovered.” The opening reception for this enjoyable exhibition will be held on Saturday, February 2, from 2-4- pm. This exhibit will be present in the visitors center of Memphis Botanic Garden February 1-28 , 2019 .

Seed Space + Delta Axis present: Kenturah Davis + Desmond Lewis

Memphis artist Desmond Lewis and Kenturah Davis (an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra, Ghana) were selected by Delta Axis and Locate Arts/Seed Space to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10
Panel discussion: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2 pm

About the show:

Delta Axis and Locate Arts/ Seed Space share a mission to promote contemporary art in Memphis and to connect Memphis to the national arts network. After years of dialogue, a collaboration between the two organizations is emerging in the form of this exhibition. It features an artist practicing in Memphis (Desmond Lewis) and an artist practicing outside of Tennessee (Kenturah Davis). The two artists were selected to exhibit their work together based on their innovative sensitivity to material, their exploration of social and relational content, and the critical acclaim associated with their work.

This two-person show is one in a series of statewide exhibitions, organized by Locate Arts, that features Tennessee artists and artists from out of state, and partners with a local organization. These exhibitions are leading up to a major statewide event: The TN Triennial, which will be the largest contemporary art exhibition ever to occur in Tennessee. Its impact will be significant, both economically and socially, with an enduring effect, especially on our visual arts community. The TN Triennial will be a celebration of the experience of contemporary art in Tennessee, and will include works by renowned artists from inside and outside of the state. The curator has been selected, important venues are signed up and the dates are set. More information will be released this spring.

About the artists:
Kenturah Davis is an artist working between Los Angeles, New Haven, and Accra (Ghana). Her work oscillates between various facets of portraiture and design. Using text as a point of departure, she explores the fundamental role that language has in shaping how we understand ourselves and the world around us. This manifests in a variety of forms including drawings, sculpture, and performances. Davis was commissioned by LA Metro to create large-scale, site-specific work that will be permanently installed on the new Crenshaw/LAX rail line, opening fall 2019. Her work has been included in institutional exhibitions in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. Davis earned her BA from Occidental College and MFA Yale University School of Art.

Desmond Lewis is a sculptor who was born and raised in Nashville, TN. Lewis received his AA from Bard College at Simon’s Rock in Great Barrington, MA in 2012, BS from Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN in 2014, and MFA from The University of Memphis in 2017. Selected group exhibitions include Current Collapse at Ruddell Gallery in 2017 in Spearfish, SD, Price is Right at David Lusk Gallery in 2017 in Memphis, TN, Equality Matters at Mildred Cox Gallery in 2017 in Fulton, MO, and The Collective Presents: Liberation at the Clough-Hanson Gallery at Rhodes College in 2018 in Memphis, TN. Public and private collections include the Penland School of Crafts, Carolina Bronze Sculpture Park, City of Lenoir, NC, City of Hickory, NC, Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center, The University of Memphis, Soulsville USA, NexAir LLC, Skowhegan Parks and Recreation, and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music. In 2017, He was named one of the 100 Interesting and Influential People of Memphis. Residencies include the Pittsburgh Glass Center (2018), Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture (2018), Haystack Mountain School of Crafts (2017), and the Vermont Carving and Sculpture Center (2016). Desmond is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Ceramics at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, TN. His studio is based in Memphis, TN.

Recent works by Lester Merriweather

Opening: Friday, Feb. 15, 6-8 pm
On view: February 15-March 10

Artist bio:
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, Diverseworks in Houston, the Contemporary in Atlanta, and Stella Jones Gallery in New Orleans. He has also exhibited abroad at the Zacheta National Gallery in Warsaw, Poland. He has exhibited locally at Powerhouse Memphis, The Brooks Museum of Art, The Dixon Gallery, Crosstown Arts and The CMPLX.

Merriweather served as the Curatorial Director at the University of Memphis for the Jones Gallery and the Martha & Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art for six years. He served on the Board of Directors for Number, Inc. Independent Journal for the Arts where he created the Art of the South Series. He participated in the Collabortory Memphis project. He was also a founding member of the ArtsMemphis Artist Advisory Council and the artsAccelerator Grant Panel Program. Complex Magazine named him one of Fifteen Young Black Artists Making Waves in the Artworld.

He currently serves as the Curatorial Consultant for The PPF Art Collection. He is on advisory panels for the CLTV and LocateArts. Merriweather serves as Principal of LJM Studio Memphis.

Artist statement:

MANE-MADE (CURIOSITIES)
Rare Black Narratives.
We forget they’re human (The Consumptives).
Exaltations + Exactions
Ideas Relevant to Real People
(It is Night For Now).

(Photo)Souvenirs
(To) Love Me Like They Love
Or to take away in remembrance
The Evening Standard
On Everything.
They Have Taken Everything.

#BetterGardensAndJungles
+
The Esteemed Desert

MOVING THE TRUTH INTO POWER.
A Pronounced Event in a Fragile Moment.
Interruptions:
You’ve Been Here Before
We’ve Been Here Before
How Different Things Would Have Been 

No Sympathy for Kings
Move up further and further
Have less people to talk to
Less Communication
About that Action 

No two days are alike.
Angels Avoiding Sleep

INTERIORS DEVOID OF RACE
#BetterGardensAndJungles
Interiors Devoid of Race

The People’s Republic of Memphis
On Occasion:
The failures of revolution and the inherent investigation of the colonial sublime

To then preserve this land;
That other sublime.
Arrows Fly (After Words Fail)
Here Am I 

Dysmorphic
Everything happens exactly as it should.

(Exceptions)
Just On The Other Side
Always like it ever Was
Still Unwelcome 

I am in search of I examine the connection(s) between colonialism and modern-day capitalism throughout visual culture(s).

Video art by Coriana Close

About the artist:
Coriana Close was recently promoted to Associate Professor of Photography at The University of Memphis. She has a BA in Cinema Studies with Honors in Studio Art from Oberlin College, and an MFA in Photography from The University of Arizona. Coriana works in both still photography and appropriated layered video. Conceptually her work focuses on social justice, state-sanctioned violence, and the relationship between human beings and the natural world. Her work has been noted in publications including the Philadelphia Inquirer, UA News, Athens News, Chronicle Tribune, and the Republican American. She has exhibited and lectured in universities and galleries across the United States.