Program Description
In 2019 The UrbanArt Commission celebrated public art projects created over the last 20 years with Revisiting, a series of temporary, site-specific responses to existing public art projects created by Memphis-based artists. We are excited to re-introduce the series, after having to place pause on the program due to covid constraints, in what is currently our 25th anniversary year!
As UAC continues to develop public art, it is important to reflect on the 130+ projects that have been realized since its founding in 1997. The responsive projects and performances of Revisiting will bring new life and renewed focus to work that has become a familiar part of our landscape, highlighting existing assets and spaces across Memphis. By working across different media, disciplines, and public art sites, Revisiting expands the possibilities and encourages new conversations around public art in Memphis.
The Revisiting program is generously funded by the First Tennessee Foundation and ArtsMemphis through an ArtsFirst grant.
Revisting #1: Solar System in Peabody
To kick off the inaugural Revisiting series, jazz collective Frogsquad composed an original experimental score in response to Yvonne Bobo’s cosmic steel sculptures at Peabody Park, Without Boundaries and Around We Go. Bandmates Khari Wynn and David Collins described the piece “an experimental journey of searching”. Wynn, Collins, and the musicians of Frogsquad performed the piece live at the park on June 21, 2019. A limited-edition EP, Solar System in Peabody, was released in November 2019, and the full performance can be viewed below:
Revisiting #2: Revisiting the Symbol
Revisiting the Symbol is an interactive virtual installation reinterpreting Anthony's Lee's 2009 mural on South Main, Modern Hieroglyphs. Lee's mural depicts 25 contemporary pictographs and icons, and asks the question, "How will we understand these symbols a century from now?"
Continuing Lee's inquiry, artist Paige Ellens reflects on the meaning of these symbols in light of a decade of drastic technological change. The planned outdoor installation of Revisiting the Symbol featured a kinetic curtain of VHS tape spanning the 700 ft wall, framing QR codes that would connect viewers to videos created in response to the mural by 25 local, national, and international artists.
Originally intended to open in Spring 2020, plans for the outdoor installation were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project has been re-imagined as a virtual installation, and the 25 original video works can be viewed on the Revisiting the Symbol project page.
