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Summer Art Garden: Creatures of Paradise

May 2024 through October 2024

Overton Park

Description TicketsPresented By Artist Curator
Banana Plastik, 2024.

For the second annual Summer Art Garden on the museum’s plaza, Memphis-based duo Banana Plastik present an environment filled with vibrant and whimsical beings entitled Creatures of Paradise. Oversize bugs and tiny Thumbelinas relax in a fantasy landscape that is equally idyllic and surreal. An ambitious mural is complemented by vivid umbrella designs, surprises hidden in the planters, a botanical intervention on the ground, and more. The artists, Ivy-Jade Edwards and Paige Ellens, were inspired by the abundance of figures, fantastic beasts, and playful proportions of Hieronymous Bosch’s enigmatic painting The Garden of Earthly Delights (ca. 1490-1500, Museo del Prado, Madrid). Ellens and Edwards worked in tandem, passing the work back and forth to create this fever-dream environment filled with curious, feminine deities and fluttering, monstrous insects. Their aim was to create a warm and colorful daydream-like creation where the creatures revel in a safe and comforting community free of societal norms.

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All exhibitions at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art are underwritten by the MBMA Exhibition Fund.

Major annual support is provided by Kay Clark and Maggie and Milton Lovell, with generous annual funding from Anonymous, Gloria and Kenneth Boyland, Holly and Paul T. Combs, Deborah and Bob Craddock, Michael and Maria Douglass, Eleanor and William Halliday, Debi and Galen Havner, Buzzy Hussey and Hal Brunt, Jay and Kristen Keegan, the Doris S. and Hubert Kiersky Charitable Remainder Trust, Carl and Valerie Person, and Bill Townsend.

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As the flowers begin to bloom, we’re excited to invite you to join us as we cultivate something special at Memphis' art museum: our Summer Art Garden! Just like a garden needs nurturing and care, our art community thrives with your support.

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Artist

Artist

Banana Plastik

Comprised of two artists from Memphis, Tennessee, Banana Plastik aims to bring color and vibrancy to walls everywhere. Paige Ellens (she/her) and Ivy-Jade Edwards (she/her) majored in Studio Art at the University of Memphis, graduating in 2020 and 2019, respectively. With Edwards' striking illustrative style and Ellens' attention to color and patterning, the two painters joined forces to collaborate on murals and other public artworks. Both artists are inspired by murals, contemporary art, and pop culture, including anime, film/TV, and music. They’ve exhibited separately and together across the state, and their creative flair in murals can be seen across Memphis.

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Curator

Curator

Kristin Pedrozo

Kristin Pedrozo is a double fellow, holding the position of Art Bridges Curatorial Fellow while being an ASU-LACMA fellow at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Born in the Philippines, and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Kristin received her BFA in studio art at Rhodes College and is now a graduate student studying art history through the ASU-LACMA fellowship, which is a work-while-you study program collaboratively held by Arizona State University and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to culturally diversify the staff and leadership of art museums across the states.