FRAGMENTS: Poets and Artists of the South and Southwest
Fragments: Poets and Artists of the South and Southwest
What exactly is ekphrasis?
Defined as “the response of one art form to another”, ekphrasis often involves poetry responding to a medium of art.
On Friday, October 7, 2011, David Hinske, longtime Memphis resident who currently lives and paints in Taos, New Mexico, and Andrea L. Watson, award-winning poet and performance artist, bring an ekphrasis event to Harrington Brown Art Gallery, 5179 Wheelis Drive, in east Memphis, at 7:00 p.m.
Harrington Brown, a contemporary art gallery, is perfect for this type of event in that it describes itself as “committed to educating the community to the value and truth of creativity.”
A year in the making, Fragments: Poets and Artists of the South and Southwest features 24 artists and poets who were challenged to respond to only a fragment of art or writing, without having the entire work in context.
The twists in this show are twofold—six of the twelve poets offer fragments of their poetry to the artists with whom they are paired while the other poets receive fragments of artwork. Not only that: Poets and artists of the South are paired with kindred spirits of the Southwest. This provides the added dynamic of all participants working outside their usual comfort zones.
During the evening, poets will perform their work and artists will discuss the process of creating for the new show. Audience members are encouraged to pose questions at the end of the evening.
Curator Andrea Watson explained that these “happenings” are more than merely one-evening events: “For me, the beauty of such ekphrasis experiences is in the extraordinary communication between the genres of the Humanities. Artists and poets, who initially do not know one another and often work hundreds of miles apart, collaborate to produce works that are extraordinary because of the coming together of two lives. This braiding of lives reminds us that friendships are born from people celebrating the best in themselves and others, communicating about the nature of the world through their art and writing.”
Defined as “the response of one art form to another”, ekphrasis often involves poetry responding to a medium of art.
On Friday, October 7, 2011, David Hinske, longtime Memphis resident who currently lives and paints in Taos, New Mexico, and Andrea L. Watson, award-winning poet and performance artist, bring an ekphrasis event to Harrington Brown Art Gallery, 5179 Wheelis Drive, in east Memphis, at 7:00 p.m.
Harrington Brown, a contemporary art gallery, is perfect for this type of event in that it describes itself as “committed to educating the community to the value and truth of creativity.”
A year in the making, Fragments: Poets and Artists of the South and Southwest features 24 artists and poets who were challenged to respond to only a fragment of art or writing, without having the entire work in context.
The twists in this show are twofold—six of the twelve poets offer fragments of their poetry to the artists with whom they are paired while the other poets receive fragments of artwork. Not only that: Poets and artists of the South are paired with kindred spirits of the Southwest. This provides the added dynamic of all participants working outside their usual comfort zones.
During the evening, poets will perform their work and artists will discuss the process of creating for the new show. Audience members are encouraged to pose questions at the end of the evening.
Fragments is the 13th show to come out of Taos centering around the communication between art and poetry. The inaugural show, Braided Lives: A Collaboration Between Artists and Poets, sponsored by Taos Institute of Arts, traveled to Denver, Berkeley, and San Francisco.
Other ekphrasis events include Interwoven Illuminations,conceived of by artist Hinske, which was based on the telephone tag game: The concept was to alternate a work of art with a poem so that each poet or artist viewed and responded to only a preceding work. In 2009, the unique show, Threaded Lives, challenged poets to interpret fiber art in the forms of weaving, Shibori, knitting, beading, or quilting. The S.R.O. show, Frida. Fractured, sponsored by J Fine Art Gallery in Taos in 2010, centered on the life, art, and suffering of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo as interpreted by artists and writers from across the United States.
Curator Andrea Watson explained that these “happenings” are more than merely one-evening events: “For me, the beauty of such ekphrasis experiences is in the extraordinary communication between the genres of the Humanities. Artists and poets, who initially do not know one another and often work hundreds of miles apart, collaborate to produce works that are extraordinary because of the coming together of two lives. This braiding of lives reminds us that friendships are born from people celebrating the best in themselves and others, communicating about the nature of the world through their art and writing.”
Curators: David Hinske and Andrea L. Watson
Southern artists: Roy Tamboli, Elizabeth Alley, Lurlynn Franklin, Lisa Tribo, Mary Long-Postal, and Thomasin Durgin
Southwest artists: David Hinske, Barbara Zaring, Chuck Zimmer, Abby Salsbury, Dean Pulver, and Carolyn Hinske
Southern poets: Bill Brown, Blas Falconer, Scott Wiggerman, Richard Jackson, Sheree Renée Thomas, and David Meischen
Southwest poets: Andrea L. Watson, Dora McQuaid, Veronica Golos, Leslie Ullman, Madelyn Garner, and Karen Cordova
Southern artists: Roy Tamboli, Elizabeth Alley, Lurlynn Franklin, Lisa Tribo, Mary Long-Postal, and Thomasin Durgin
Southwest artists: David Hinske, Barbara Zaring, Chuck Zimmer, Abby Salsbury, Dean Pulver, and Carolyn Hinske
Southern poets: Bill Brown, Blas Falconer, Scott Wiggerman, Richard Jackson, Sheree Renée Thomas, and David Meischen
Southwest poets: Andrea L. Watson, Dora McQuaid, Veronica Golos, Leslie Ullman, Madelyn Garner, and Karen Cordova
posted by Sheree Renée Thomas at 11:47:00 AM
1 Comments:
It was a bit of rough sledding to get the show up on the walls, but what an interesting night it was with the poets and artists. Thanks for being part of it.
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