Art in a trailer in Memphis

Hamlett Dobbins has a really sweet setup on Broad Avenue in Memphis, not too far from Rhodes, the Brooks, and Memphis College of Art. Hamlett’s got a building in this short stretch of old commercial buildings, cut off from the main thoroughfares by confusing traffic patterns. In the front room of the ground floor he has a gallery space which he calls Material, which has a regular series of monthly shows. Hamlett’s studio is in the back of the ground floor, and he and his family live upstairs.

I got a chance to drop by over a year ago, but basically I don’t make it up to Memphis very much so I don’t have much to say about the shows. But I’m on his email notice, and I couldn’t pass up a mention of one thing taking place on the night of the reception, this Friday. Piecing bits of Hamlett’s announcement:

Nathaniel Parson’s show will be in “Chuck,” the artist’s 1964 Serro Scotty camper trailer parked in front of the gallery for the exhibition reception. The artist is moving from his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio to San Francisco, California and will present I’M FROM WHERE I’M GOING at a number of venues along the way.

About I’M FROM WHERE I’M GOING, Parsons writes:
“The project locates a portable artist’s studio in a town’s public space, where the artist’s door of solitude can be opened to encourage all who visit to participate and view that which has been created previously. Using the traveling road show format, I wish to demystify the production of art by creating a showcase of a town’s excitable talented citizens.”

I don’t know quite what’s going to be in the trailer (at least one of Parson’s previous shows recruited local artists in Memphis for a sort of performance. Look at the description on his site). But this has got to be fun.

This is just one thing Hamlett’s got going Friday night at Material. Amy Enkelmann-Reed and Tom Reed are also showing work—I was able to find GIFs of his work, and it looks good. All three of the artists are University of Iowa MFAs, like Hamlett.