"All Hail Plinko" courtesy of Alexander Paulus
Crosstown Arts at 430 N. Cleveland is a venue that welcomes all artists, musicians, and the like to host their own art-related events, giving them the opportunity to show their work to the public. On their website, Crosstown Arts states that they “offer this space to be used exclusively for the exhibition, performance, or presentation/discussion of creative work.” The venue's next three events will be a photography exhibit, a solo show, and a short film screening series.
Up first is the Past Perfect opening reception tomorrow (4/11) from 6 to 8 p.m. Past Perfect is Sam Beasley’s photography exhibit, which includes photographs from Florida and Tennessee. The exhibit is inspired by Beasley’s “feelings of nostalgia” from both growing older and moving back to Tennessee after living in South Florida for 10 years. “With this project, I’m using photography as a way of dealing with memories," says Beasley. "It’s a way to record things that remind me of my past along with holding onto things in the present for future memories — days, weeks, years from now.”
Beasley unintentionally began the project in late 2014. The photographs in the exhibit range from 2014 to only a few months ago. He explains how photography “hooked” him after he took his first black & white photography class at the University of Memphis and saw the first image “magically appear in the developer.” He continued his passion by pursuing fashion and commercial photography at Miami Ad School, but realized his true calling was to focus on his personal work and not photographing for clients. Beasley’s photography exhibit is on view on April 12th from 4 to 8 p.m. and April 13th from 3 to 8 p.m. The reception and viewings are free. To view more of his work, visit his website sambeasleyphoto.com or follow him on Instagram: @sambeasleyphoto.
Courtesy of Sam Beasley
The next event will be Memphis-based artist Alexander Paulus’ comprehensive solo show WRONG WAY, which features his recent paintings, on April 14th from noon to 5 p.m. "The goal for the show is to make people question a few things," Paulus says. "And to consider their idea of what they think a painting should look like... to think about the subject matter in a way that applies to contemporary life in general, as well as their personal life experiences.”
Paulus adds that the pieces in the show represent his ideas and influences and believes that people will connect with them “through the use of shared imagery.”
The amount of time it takes to complete each of his paintings differs, depending on the type of medium used, the size of the canvas, and the thought put into it. For some, Paulus will have an immediate idea and start on the painting right away. For others, it might take a week or two before he comes up with a vision of the painting and then maybe another week or so to execute it.
When describing Paulus’ show on their website, Crosstown Arts states, “The paintings in WRONG WAY feel surreal and bizarre though still grounded in reality thanks to Paulus’ sharp utilization of pop culture references... [his] use of bright colors and keen sense of humor plays against the darker undertones of many of the pieces.” This show is also free.
Two days after the solo show is the monthly short film screening series, which is presented by Indie Memphis & Crosstown Arts, on April 16th from 7 to 9 p.m. This month’s screening is the 2019 Slamdance Anarchy Shorts. Crosstown Arts explains, “The 2019 ‘Anarchy’ shorts program by Slamdance Film Festival is an anti-genre form of resistance to dominant cultural paradigms.” The admission for the show is pay what you can. The lineup can be found here: crosstownarts.org.
For more information on these and other upcoming events, visit crosstownarts.org/calendar.
