Curatorial

Michi Meko: How Far We Haven't Come
The New Gallery, Oct. 2-27, 2017

exhibition catalogue
exhibition essay by Dr. Tony Morris

An element of art, space refers to distances or areas around, between or within components of a piece. Space can be positive or negative, open or closed, shallow or deep and two-dimensional or three-dimensional.

It is also defined as the distance from other people or things that a person needs in order to remain comfortable.

At The New Gallery at Austin Peay State University, I am still thinking about space, but am shifting gears with the second exhibition of the season: “Michi Meko: How Far We Haven’t Come”. Unlike the prior exhibition by Jamey Grimes, this work is not a celebration of space, but rather an investigation of space by asking, “How do you exist in public space when public space is a threat?”

According to Dr. Anthony Morris, associate professor of art history for Austin Peay State Unviversity, “Michi’s work is an attempt to find a place for himself as a black man in 21st century American culture. He often uses the iconography of water, exploration, mapping, and found objects in his work to express a loss of trust, safety, and independence in a world that perceives him as a threat, a criminal and identifies him first by his race and not his humanity.”

- Michael Dickins, Gallery Director