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CRAFTING A LEGACY:
40 YEARS OF COLLECTING & EXHIBITING AT THE METAL MUSEUM

FEB. 3 – MAY 12, 2019

Gasparrini Galleries

In honor of its 40th Anniversary, the Metal Museum presents an exhibition of past, current, and future Master Metalsmiths and Tributaries artists, who represent both the heights of achievement and the promising future of the metals field. As the Metal Museum continues to build a renowned repository of contemporary metal art, collecting the works of artists from these two important series reflects the commitment to document and preserve the field. While individual artists are busy crafting their personal artistic legacies, the Metal Museum has spent its first 40 years crafting its own institutional legacy through its dedication to those artists, their processes, and ultimately their love of metal.

This exhibition showcases work from the Metal Museum’s past, current, and future Master Metalsmiths and Tributaries artists.
 
The Master Metalsmith exhibition series began in 1983 as a way for the Metal Museum to honor the most influential metal artists of the day. In the years since its inception, it has brought the work of more than 30 internationally acclaimed metalsmiths to Memphis for solo exhibitions. Inspired by this series, one of the most important collections in the Metal Museum’s Permanent Collection of art objects is the Master Metalsmith Collection. It represents 32 of the 36 Master Metalsmiths and includes over 80 original works of jewelry, hollowware, sculpture and architectural objects.

The Tributaries exhibition series began in 2007 with the goal of supporting underrepresented and underrecognized metal artists with solo exhibitions at the Museum. Along with the exhibition, Tributaries artists travel to the Museum to present a gallery talk or slide lecture and some artists elect to teach workshops in the Museum’s smithy, foundry or small metals studio. With over 35 Tributaries exhibitions completed or in the planning process, the Museum has celebrated some of the most talented artists who are shaping the metals field today. The Metal Museum actively collects the work of these artists to document the early and evolving stages of their careers.

This exhibition features 36 Master Metalsmith and 30 Tributaries artists with each artist represented by 1 piece (or set of pieces) for a total count of 78 objects. These artists represent both the heights of achievement and the promising future of the metals field, and they work with a variety of metals, 
processes and forms, including jewelry, furniture, sculpture, hollowware, hardware, tools, and architectural ironwork. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with interviews from Founding Director James Wallace and current Executive Director Carissa Hussong, an introduction essay, artist biographies, and visual documentation of these unique and important works.

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Master Metalsmiths

Phillip Fike
L. Brent Kington
Richard Mawdsley
Gary Noffke
Helen Shirk
Carl Jennings
John Marshall
Curtis Lafollete
Mary Lee Hu
Bruce LePage
Tom Joyce
Heikki Seppä

Pat Flynn
Marilyn da Silva
Richard Kimball
Tim McCreight
Harlan Butt
Peter Ross
Harriete Estel Berman
Elliott Pujol
Richard Prillaman
Thomas Madden
Gary Griffin
Elizabeth Brim

Michael Jerry
Fred Fenster
Eleanor Moty
Thomas Latane
Myra Mimlitsch-Gray
Linda Threadgill
Hoss Haley
David Secrest
Lisa Gralnick
Sarah Perkins
Kim Cridler
Rachelle Thiewes

Tributaries Artists

John Rais
David Clemons
Jeffrey Clancy
Haley Bates
Sylvie Rosenthal
Nathan Dube
Jillian Moore
Jessica Calderwood
Susan Myers
Andy Cooperman

Marc Maiorana
Stacey Lee Webber
Lola Brooks
Marlene True
Lauren Kahlman
Chris Irick
Andrew Hayes
Karin Jones
Gabriel Craig
Susie Ganch

Kirk Lang
Vivian Beer
Seth Gould
Stephen Yusko
Cozette Phillips
Caitie Sellers
Zachery Lechtenberg
Venetia Dale
Tanya Crane
Jill Baker Gower

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Opening Reception

Sunday, FEB. 3, 2019  3PM - 5PM

Gasparrini Galleries

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Ongoing Exhibition & Programming Support
Windgate Charitable Foundation
Hyde Family Foundations

Ongoing Operational Support
ArtsMemphis
Tennessee Arts Commission

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