Project Overview
Cloudy Thoughts | Temporary Work | Midtown
Produced as an intentionally temporary project for UrbanArt's 10 year anniversary in 2008, Memphis , TN artist Greely Myatt's Cloudy Thoughts billboard enchanted passersby with its fair-weather clouds, fronted by half a dozen mounted thought bubbles. Because the sculptural elements were placed at a distance to the surface of the mural, they added a second layer of changing shadows to the work. The 14 x 48 ft work was fabricated in vinyl with metal attachments. Greely is known for his tongue-in-cheek humor and producing works with a lighthearted tone.
Taking his inspiration from comic strips, Myatt fashioned painted aluminum and steel into ten word bubbles. With nine of the figures designed as speech bubbles and one as a thought bubble, the work reflects the political discourse evident across the United States government today.
“Greely is known for his tongue-in-cheek humor and for producing works with a lighthearted note.”
Greely Myatt's mural was chosen for the prestigious 'Public Art Year in Review' by Americans for the Arts as one of the top 40 works of public art produced across the entire United States that year. Greely also created Quiltsurround at Memphis City Hall, dedicated in 2009. His sculpture No Wonder is installed in the West Concourse of the Cook Convention Center.
In celebration of UrbanArt Commission’s 10th anniversary, UAC commissioned 10 temporary public art projects in 2008. Other projects include Dan Corson's light installation Emerald Aura and two murals: Poetry Panels and Anthony Lee's Modern Hieroglyph, located across the street from each other at Central Station. Myatt's Cloudy Thoughts was uninstalled in 2009.
About the artist
Greely Myatt
Greely Myatt was born and educated in Aberdeen, MS. He currently lives and works in Memphis, TN, where he is a Professor of Art at The University of Memphis. His sculptures and installations have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Japan. He has received grants and fellowships from the Tennessee Arts Commission, The University of Memphis, The University of Georgia, Alternate Roots, Atlanta, and received the Mississippi Arts and Letters Visual Arts Award in 1994. Myatt was an exchange artist to Israel in 1998. In 2009, work from twenty years of living and working in Memphis was exhibited across the city in nine separate venues. His work has been reviewed in Art in America, ArtNews, Sculpture Magazine, and in online versions of ArtForum and Juxtapoz Magazine. He is represented by Sandler Hudson Gallery, Atlanta, and David Lusk Gallery, Memphis.
