Tree of Life

Hawkins Bolden, Margaret Coleman, Floyd "Pussum" Glover, Edwin Jeffrey, Eddie Lee Kendrick, Joe Light, Georgia Speller, Henry Speller

October 19th - December 21st

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

Tops Gallery is pleased to announce Tree of Life, an exhibition comprising the work of self taught artists from Memphis and neighboring communities. These works are united through place and an inventiveness born out of modest circumstances. The intentions of the artists and forms of the work in the show are varied, but they share the lineage of self taught Southern artists working with an economy of means and conviction that belies their context.

Tree of Life takes its name from a Joe Light sculpture that is featured in the exhibition. Light's piece features a Lonnie Holley sculpture that Light had traded Holley for and subsequently incorporated into The Tree of Life. Despite the story behind this piece, most of the artists in this show made their work in isolation, outside of an artistic community, to satisfy personal needs.