"Woven" metal makes Mary Catherine Floyd's "Vessel II" much more than a basket.
The Dixon is having the year's first heavy metal show.
"Metal in Memphis," which runs Jan. 22-March 18 in the Mallory and Wurtzburger galleries, spotlights talent at another local institution, the National Ornamental Metal Museum. Specifically, some 20 to 25 pieces will be displayed by the Metal Museum's artists-in-residence Jacob Brown, Kevin Burge, Mary Catherine Floyd, Jim Masterson and Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh.
Working in sterling silver, Kevin Burge produced this Art Deco cake server.
Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh made this clown door knocker.
"Woven" metal makes Mary Catherine Floyd's "Vessel II" much more than a basket.
An opening reception will be held 6-9 p.m. Thursday in tandem with the museum's monthly "Art After Dark" events.
The group show, while being a diverse lot, is nonetheless thematically connected by the idea that an appreciation of form and beauty can co-exist with an object's function -- that utilitarian objects can aspire beyond the merely decorative to be fine art.
Kevin Burge's delightfully Art Deco "Cake Server," for example, serves up a slice of sterling silver perfection to the viewer, while Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh's whimsical functionality imagines a door knocker as clown. And simply stunning is the "woven" metal technique of Mary Catherine Floyd, whose refined craft turns "Vessel II" into something much more than a basket.
"Metal doesn't have to be hard, cold, solid," says Floyd, a Raleigh, N.C.-based artist with a background in fiber art. "It can be fluid and delicate, almost like lace or fabric. Sewing is kind of seen as women's work, and metal is kind of seen as a masculine thing, so I guess I'm trying to bring those two together."
Dixon assistant curator and exhibit organizer Julie Pierotti credits Floyd, who had submitted her work for gallery consideration, with planting the seeds for what ultimately became a group show. The result, says Pierotti, hopefully expands "the way our visitors think of art and what is art," especially in regard to preconceived notions of the decorative arts and the types of sculpture usually displayed at the Dixon.
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"Metal in Memphis"
On display Jan. 22-March 18 in the Mallory and Wurtzburger galleries at Dixon Gallery and Gardens, 4339 Park. An opening reception is 6-9 p.m. Thursday in conjunction with "Art After Dark." Exhibition-related programs include two noontime "Munch and Learn" events, a March 10 talk by Mary Catherine Floyd and Jeannie Tomlinson Saltmarsh, followed by a March 17 talk from Jim Masterson and Kevin Burge. For more information, call 761-5250 or go to dixon.org.
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