February 3, 2020. MEMPHIS, TN. Memphis in May International Festival unveiled the 2020 Fine Arts Poster honoring the Republic of Ghana in the National Civil Rights Museum’s Hyde Hall on Tuesday night, February 4, 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm. The original work for the Fine Arts Poster is acrylic on canvas and was created by artist Carl Moore.
I join Activism host Linda Steele to discuss the implications of my work, which she describes as beautiful as it is political. For the last few years, I have focused on the relationship between identity and color, comparing social ideologies about race, stereotypes, and belief systems to everyday colors and the perception of these colors in our environment. The narrative of the artwork speaks for itself, I talk about my experience with dialogue during his interview.
► To listen to the interview on The OAM Network Click Here.
The "Voluntarily Indirect", exhibition features 16 Tennessee Artist and will be on view in three locations in TN throughout the 2020 year. This is a Contemporary Observation from Tennessee Artist on The Human Figure.

February 1st, 2020 @ 5 PM – UTM Show closes
August/September 2020 – Marshall Arts Gallery in Memphis, TN
October 2020 – Fluorescent Gallery in Knoxville, TN
Tennessee Artist Fellowship
The CECA Tennessee Artist Fellowship was created to celebrate contemporary art, and to support the continued creative work of exceptional Tennessee artists. Unlike other fellowships, nominations and applications from artists are not solicited. A committee of APSU faculty compiles a list of outstanding artists from across the state and selects the fellowship recipient. Through the generous support of the Center of Excellence in the Creative Arts (CECA), the selected artist receives aid in the creation of new artwork.
“Since APSU is the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts for the entire state of Tennessee, we wanted to find a way to support artists state-wide,” Barry Jones, chair of the APSU Department of Art and Design, said. “There is an incredible amount of amazing artists here, but unfortunately there isn’t much financial support for them. We hope that this fellowship helps a Tennessee artist maintain their practice and to know that we support what they are doing.”
A group exhibition at the CMPLX Memphis, October 26th through December 14th.
Exhibition:
Dear Artist
Art Museum of the University of Memphis
The Art Museum of the University of Memphis and Young Arts Patrons are pleased to announce, Dear Artist, an exhibition that highlights the social and economic importance of celebrating and supporting artists throughout their careers. Dear Artist will feature works by emerging and internationally known artists on loan from new and established local collectors as well as select museum collections.
Collecting is often a personal and emotional experience. Dear Artist will examine the collector's motivation and process in depth through intimate, hypothetical letters written by the collectors to their chosen artists.
Artists will include: Lisa Alonso, Jarvis Boyland, Nakeya Brown, Burton Callicott, Carroll Cloar, Ronald and Jessie Cooper, Jennifer Crescuillo, LaAndrea Deloyce, Howard Finster, Edwin Jeffrey, Jr., Titus Kaphar, Karen Lamassone, Joseph "Doughjoe" Love III, Terry Lynn, John Carl Marshall, Lawrence Matthews, Lester Merriweather, Carl Moore, Greely Myatt, Georgia O'Keeffe, Andres Serrano, Jared Small, Kiki Smith, Katie Benjamin Steed, and Cathy Worthy.
The exhibition opens on Saturday March 9th and runs through June 1st at the Art Museum of the University of Memphis.
Exhibition:
ArtUp Artspace, "At Your Discretion" Feb. 22 - March 29.
Art Talk, Saturday March 16, 2 - 3pm,
Moderated by Grace Stewart, Director of Collections and Exhibitions
at National Ornamental Metal Museum.
Inheritance: A Lineage of Black Art
Presented by The Collective (CMPLX)
Jan. 11 thru Feb. 1, 2019
“Lineage” would bring together artists who have laid the ground work for black art in this city and young emerging artists to bring together multiple generations of black art. The exhibition was curated by Grace Stewart and Lawrence Matthews.
A Black arts renaissance takes center stage as a bevy of artists, artisans and supporters, gather in the historically Black neighborhood of Orange Mound to celebrate the opening of The Complex (CMPLX), a gallery space built by The CLTV in Memphis, Tennessee.
The CLTV is a commune of Black creators who are continuing the rich, creative legacy embedded within the city’s framework. Their goal is to position their art as an outlet to express the joy, the fear and frustration of living while Black in America, Memphis and beyond.
Homeward Bound
Crosstown Arts West Gallery
On view: Dec. 14-Jan. 27, 2018/19
Group exhibition addressing the complex theme of “home.” A place of home has very different meanings to all of us. Sometimes it is a memory, a sense of place, a person, a dream, a certain chaos, a metaphorical anchor, a roof over our heads.
“I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society.”
- Henry David Thoreau
A•GEN•CY: A Home In The World - Reception
Memphis College of Art
A For Freedom Initiative
On view: October 12 – November 4, 2018
Curated by Lester Julian Merriweather
In partnership with the For Freedoms 50 State Initiative, A•GEN•CY: A Home in the World is an exploration of what it means to be a free person of color within the current experiment of American democracy. The intention of A•GEN•CY is to examine two pillars of the For Freedoms platform: Freedom from Want and Freedom from Fear.
For Freedoms is a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States. In a world where there can be potentially narrow expectations concerning how artists of color address the construct of race in historical terms, this exhibition takes a different approach. The works in A•GEN•CY express ideas around the freedom to be a person of color living in a viscerally racialized America. A•GEN •CY examines ways people of color thrive in a moment where the concept of race is used as a weapon against them.
Here and Now:
Printmaking and the Political Present
The Martha and Robert Fogelman Galleries of Contemporary Art
On view: October 8 - November 9, 2018
Reception: October 12, 5-7 PM
Here and Now: Printmaking and the Political Present is an exhibition of prints by Memphis-based artists exploring social issues of our contemporary moment. Artists include Maritza Dávila, Vanessa González-Hernández, Nelson Gutierrez, Lawrence Matthews, Carl Moore, Joel Parsons, Jennifer Sargent, and Yancy Villa-Calvo.
Master printmaker Maritza Dávila has led artists in a series of workshops formulating concepts and producing the prints on view. Artists explore topics such as gentrification, climate change, gun violence, queer politics, immigration, education, and non-violent protest in their work.
The exhibition runs concurrently with Freedom of the Press: Posters from Progressive Print Shops, 1960s-1990s, an exhibition organized by the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in Los Angeles, California.
L | Ross Gallery
Carl E. Moore    "Going Day By Day"
Matthew Hasty "Radiance"
Show opens October 3 - 27
Reception, Friday October 5, 2018, 6 - 8pm
“Going Day by Day” is an investigation of work and series created between 2013 and 2018. This period is reflective of work that is experimental, personal and socially driven based on specific concepts and themes. The goal is to show that by combining artwork from different series, the work still maintains a consistent ongoing narrative. I try to create non-sequential stories of daily life within the black community by placing the characters in possible past, present or future situations.
“Going Day by Day” is a representation of how we live and what it takes to live from day to day in a world that’s become very complex and unstable as it relates to our Freedoms.
FORFREEDOMS.ORG
October 1, 8 and 17, Sponsored by the Brooks Museum and Memphis College of Art
October 6, Sponsored by The University of Memphis Lambuth Campus, Jackson, TN
For Freedoms is a platform for greater participation in the arts and in civil society. We produce exhibitions, installations, public programs, and billboard campaigns to advocate for inclusive civic participation. Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear— For Freedoms Federation uses art to encourage and deepen public explorations of freedom in the 21st century.
Founded by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms Federation encourages new forms of critical discourse. Our mission is to use art as a vehicle to build greater participation in American Democracy.
ABOUT FOR FREEDOMS
For Freedoms Federation is a sponsored project of Artadia, a non profit arts service organization. Contributions to For Freedoms are tax-deductible and support educational programs, exhibitions, and partnerships with museums and other not for profit organizations. For Freedoms Federation is supported by The Quiet Fund, The Surdna Foundation, The Bromley Foundation, Open Box, VIA Art Fund, The Westridge Foundation, The Muriel Pollia Foundation, the For Freedoms Advisory Committee, and many generous individuals.
Detangling/Unraveling the Politics of Hair:
Marginalization, Resistance and Empowerment in Black TN
Curated by Karlota Contreras-Koterbay and Karen Sullivan
Diverse and Beautiful: African American Art in TN and Appalachia
September 6 to 28, 2018, Tipton Gallery
Performance of ‘Madam C.J. Walker’, from slave to first African American woman millionaire by storyteller and musician Valarie Houston during the reception and festival
Sponsored by the ETSU Student Activities Allocation Funds & partnership with the Language & Culture Resource Center, Multicultural Center, Department of Anthropology & Sociology, School of Continuing Studies, Office of Multicultural Affairs, Johnson City Public Library, and select public schools in the East TN region.
The exhibition explore the politics of hair and its nuanced roles in the negotiation of identity and race. The artists invited employ hair as agency, either as subject matter or media, as intentional element in their re-investigation of African American historical narratives, with conscious effort for self-representation, and to reconnect to their cultural heritage to reveal the mechanisms of marginalization, stereotyping and construction of identity towards more empowered future.
Memphis College of Art
Biennial Alumni Exhibition
Memphis College of art will host it's final  Alumni Biennial Exhibition
On View: May 26 – July 15 in Rust Hall.
The exhibit will be juried by a panel of three creative leaders – Julie Pierotti, Curator at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Grace Stewart, Director of Collections and Exhibitions at the Metal Museum, and Dolph Smith, MCA Professor Emeritus.
Closing Reception: Friday July 13, 2018
On exhibit: "We the People", Acrylic on Canvas 48 x 48, 2018.
For "Life, Liberty and The Pursuit of Happiness!"
Memphis Jewish Community Center, May 1 - 31, 2018
“For Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, reflects multiple themes and concepts that directly or indirectly take place in the black community. The show title addresses everyone’s right to the idea of the American Dream, the right to Equal Justice and the ability to provide for our family. This should apply to everyone.
Jewish Community Center Memphis
6560 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38138
(901) 761-0810
"And Justice For All"
Gallery 130 . Meek Hall . University of Mississippi
January 19 - February 22, 2018
The exhibition “And Justice for All” is an ongoing discussion about inequality, discrimination, illegal search and seizure, and police shootings in the black community. This is also paralleled by rampant black on black violence that can be attributed to years of systemic racism, a flawed justice system and the incarceration of minorities for little or no crimes for which they are given extended prison sentences. The result has been a reduction of the black family dynamic and the growth of single parent households.
Department of Art and Art History
The University of Mississippi
Meek Hall, Rm. 232
University, MS 38677
Theater Memphis
Exhibition
"Good Neighbors"
On exhibition doing the play "Fences"
The work in the show "Good Neighbors" is indirect reference to the play "Fences". The paintings represent characters that you would find living and working in your neighborhood. The approach for this work was too develop images that only dealt with most important or needed information to create a narrative about the characters and the scene. There is no background, so the paper serves as the base for these decal like images.
Organized by Artist Link of Memphis
The Play "Fences" and the exhibition
On view  January 19 - February 4, 2018
Art/Race/Violence: A Collaborative Response
Curator Talks, performances, and opening reception on
Sunday, Nov. 12, 2-5 pm in Crosstown
Crosstown Arts' new space in the Crosstown Concourse (Suite 280).
Exhibition runs through January 14.
Art/Race/Violence: A Collaborative Response is a multidisciplinary project organized by visual culture historian Dr. Earnestine Jenkins and artist Richard Lou in collaboration with Crosstown Arts. Through this project, local artists collectively explore intersections of race and systemic violence through the lens of cultural expression.
Featuring work by artist teams:
Jamin Carter and Mary Jo Karimnia
Andrea Morales and Terry Lynn
Lisa Williamson and Lurlynn Franklin
Yancy Villa and Lawrence Matthews
Jamond Bullock and Cat Pena
Karina Alvarez and Carl Moore
Jin Powell and Jesse Butcher
Agustin Diaz, Brittney Bullock and Brenda Joysmith
Emmett O'Ryan Award for Artistic Inspiration
The Emmett O’Ryan Award for Artistic Inspiration is given annually by Metropolitan Bank and Butler Snow LLP to an outstanding visual artist. The award is named in honor of Emmett O'Ryan, a founding Board Member of Metropolitan Bank.
Nominees are selected by a committee comprised of members of the Artist Advisory Council and members of the community.
Award recipients are selected by Metropolitan Bank in concert with leaders of the Artist Advisory Council - an initiative of ArtsMemphis that aims to strengthen our visual arts community through individual grants and professional development programs.
Carl E. Moore, a local visual artist, best known for his vivid, high-contrast paintings, is the recipient of the seventh annual Emmett O’Ryan Award for Artistic Inspiration.  This award is presented by ArtsMemphis and generously sponsored by Metropolitan Bank, in partnership with Butler Snow.  It is given each year to a local artist whose work demonstrates creative and civic leadership within the Memphis arts community.
ArtsMemphis President and CEO Elizabeth Rouse noted that “Carl was selected based on his decades of making outstanding work, along with his service to the Memphis community, ranging from his volunteer work at Caritas Village to his work as an adjunct instructor at the University of Memphis.”  Moore is widely recognized for helping to strengthen the local artist community and for mentoring emerging artists.  He has curated over 80 shows and his work has been displayed at numerous venues including the L. Ross Gallery, the Dixon Gallery, and Crosstown Arts.
Much of Moore’s work is focused on challenging racial and ethnic stereotypes.  His subjects are often shown in moments of peril or distress, sometimes in urban environments, and he frequently uses a bold graphic style, with thick, arresting lines that call to mind commercial illustration.  “I’m very honored to be a nominee and recipient of the Emmet Award,” Moore said.  “This award means a great deal to the art community, as a whole, because it lets artists know that they are being recognized in a city so rich with talent.  Art should be for everyone, accessible to everyone, and without limitations.”
Special thanks to Metropolitan Bank, ArtsMemphis and the Emmett O'Ryan family for their continued support of the Arts.
The Black Experience
A rebirth of [February] Black History Month
Orange Mound Gallery, 2232 Lamar Ave., Memphis, TN 38114
The title of the show is "The Black Experience" The Rebirth of Black History Month. The focus of the show is to redefine the meaning of Black History Month. Although we've had a black president for 8 years, and created historical achievements and accomplishments in the black community like in the arts, the Olympics, and entertainment. We still don't celebrate Black History Month beyond the use of predictable images and icons like Harriet Tubman, Dr. Martin Luther King (Which is understandable), George Washington Carver and Rosa Parks. We would like the show to celebrate our history old and new. We want to highlight the lives of everyday people as being part of our history.
Artist:
Jamond Bullock, Lurlynn Franklin, Dani Harris, Chuck Johnson, Terry Lynn, Lawrence Matthew, Lester Merriweather, Carl E. Moore, Angela Myers, Darlene Newman, Frank Robinson, Eso Tolson and Jason Williams.
Curated By: Carl E. Moore
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