LARRY EDWARDS
Now and Then: works Not Seen
Now & Then: Works Not Seen will feature drawings and paintings by local artist Larry Edwards, which have never before been exhibited. Works dating from 1988 to 2006 will be featured in this first exhibition of Edwards's work in Memphis since 2002.
The exhibition will illustrate key phases in Edwards's artistic path over the past decade, and highlight his new directions.
Larry Edwards was taught painting in the art department at the University of Memphis for twenty years, and was chair of the department for five years, leaving an indelible impression on the city's young artists. He retired in 1997. He has exhibited in several group exhibitions in New York City and numerous one person and group exhibitions primarily in states east of the Mississippi River.
Edwards has received grants from the Penny McCall Foundation and Art Matters Inc. in New York and a Tennessee Arts Commission fellowship. His work is in both public and private collections.
Edwards says of his work:
I observe and paint my reaction to the three F's: Foolishness, Foibles and the Frailties of Human Behavior. I do not condemn but I do laugh at this behavior and insert humor (albeit dark) into the work. Often I substitute animals for humans because it makes our actions seem more absurd. I always keep in mind Sigmund Freud's comment that “we ought not to exalt ourselves so highly as to completely neglect what was originally animal in our nature.” To a significant degree, I am painting myself.