The Fuel Room
Anthony Lee | The Reclamation of Color
May 30, 2008 – July 13, 2008
Fuel for the Fire: Lecture by the artist May 29, 2008 6 - 7pm
Opening reception Friday, May 30, 6 - 7pm
Delta Axis announces its newest contemporary art program, Fuel for the Fire. Along the lines of our popular series of Artist Studio Visits, the Fuel for the Fire program is designed to introduce the public to the featured Fuel Room Artist. The Artist will give a brief presentation on their background, processes, and current installation in the Fuel Room. A Q&A session will follow leading to a group discussion between the Artist and the audience. The Fuel for the Fire lecture program has been created to give the public an opportunity to interact with the Artist of the Fuel Room on a more intimate level.
Delta Axis is pleased to present Anthony Lee as our first Artist in the Fuel for the Fire lecture series. Attendees will be able to get a sneak peek at Anthony Lee’s Fuel Room installation entitled The Reclamation of Color, opening May 30, 2008. Refreshments will be served an as a special program introduction, admission will be free.
Artist Statement:
There are terms issued to colors that connote race. Or, perhaps better stated- color words that define specific skin colors. This exhibit reclaims these color words by assigning them a different color, attempting to visually recondition the viewer’s association of color with the word.
Words like mulatto conjure thoughts of the color beige, because it is applied to color solely in terms of race. What if the context of race was removed from this color word? Could the word mulatto exist solely in terms of color? Will the viewer be convinced of its transformation?
Most of these color words are now verbally extinct. They were either regarded as derogatory epithets, or were simply replaced with more correct language (i.e.: Negro becomes African-American). To a younger viewer, the color word or epithet may have been dormant long enough to escape recognition; thusly allowing for an easier reconditioning of the word to happen.
The works mimic the Ralph Lauren paint samples that I use extensively in my collages.
Delta Axis Power House is sponsored by The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, Tennessee Arts Commission, ArtsMemphis, and Hyde Family Foundations.
The mission of Delta Axis is to present contemporary art and film and to link Memphis with global artistic communities.
45 GE Patterson, Memphis, TN 38103
Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, 12-6 p.m. and Sunday 1-6 p.m.
