Over the past few years, a growing group of artists from London to Los Angeles have gathered to show their art in Memphis. “They’re all abstract works by abstract artists — people who have a sustained dialogue with abstraction,” says Paul Behnke, a Memphis artist and founding member of this abstract international.
Behnke is a graduate of the late, lamented Memphis College of Art who decamped to seek his fortune in the New York art world. When fellow painters Christopher Blyth and Robert Melzmuf contacted him about the prospects of showing their work in Europe, he connected them with his friend Karl Bielik. “They wanted to do a show that would connect New York painters and London painters,” says Behnke.
The result was “Cross Currents,” a New York exhibit of abstracts from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. A few months later, Bielik and painter Rob Hall organized versions of the show in London and Yorkshire, England, called “The Shadow Side of Everything.” The group continued to grow with progressively larger shows in New York and Los Angeles. Meanwhile, after spending three years in Taos, New Mexico, Behnke returned to Memphis, where he reconnected with Lisa Williamson. “Lisa and I met at the Memphis College of Art around ’95,” says Behnke. “Lisa invited me to work and share a part of her studio space. We’ve had a couple of small group shows with Jodi [Brewer] in the last couple of years over at Marshall Arts.”
After the latest iteration of the abstract international shows in New York, Williamson had the idea of organizing one in Memphis with Marshall Arts owner Pinkney Herbert. “He was with us at the show in New York, and something I noticed that was just very different, because I’ve been in Memphis my entire art career, and something Paul would talk about after moving back, was the community of artists that had grown throughout his work in New York,” Williamson says, “and all the connections he had made and the friendships and sharing of information. I thought that should be in Memphis. We had a little bit of that going on, but then it also felt like during Covid, a lot of that sort of dispersed.”
“What Remains Visible” will open Saturday, October 3rd, at Marshall Arts. Six curators — Blyth and Melzmuf in New York, Bielik and Hall in London, David Leapman and Jenny Hager in Los Angeles — join Williamson and Behnke in curating 58 artists working in the abstract space. “Sometimes, we think that Memphis isn’t going to be one of the big art stops, like New York or LA or Miami,” says Williamson. “But all the artists were thrilled.”
Eleven of the artists — Williamson, Behnke, Herbert, Brewer, Hamlett Dobbins, Roy Tamboli, James Inscho, Jennifer Turnage, Anthony Lee, Jodi Hays, and Linda Pelts — are Memphians. “They kind of run the gamut,” says Williamson. “There aren’t a lot of hard-edged abstract pieces. That’s something unique. ‘Abstract’ can cover such a broad range.”
For Behnke, it’s the culmination of a longstanding project which spans oceans. “I just wanted to emphasize the community these artists have. Most of us have been aware of each other and known each other for a long time, and we’ve had these exchanges for years. It’s so great to be able to do an exhibition that focuses on that community and something we all share in that community,” he says, “which is the belief in paint and painting as a relevant medium, still able to communicate in this day and age.
“That’s something that I’m really thrilled about. Everybody has their own ideas about where they’re coming from, content-wise,” Behnke continues. “But one thing we share is that we believe painting is important.”
“What Remains Visible” runs October 3-31 at Marshall Arts gallery, 639 Marshall Ave.
