Justin Bowles: Boukay

For years, Memphis artist Justin Bowles has been incorporating various forms of paper—newsprint, glossy magazine paper, cardstock, cardboard, etc.—into brilliantly colorful and clever works of art. These works have ranged from still-life shadowboxes to abstract quilt-like pieces to representational collages on canvas to colorfully enticing installations.

In Justin Bowles: Boukay, the featured artist utilizes paper and other everyday materials in order to create her own colorful world. Her current exhibition in the Mallory/Wurtzburger Galleries features paper floral shadowboxes, screen-printed wallpaper, ‘force fields,' and large, hanging fruit and floral designs that complement the elaborately detailed paper garments featured in Isabelle de Borchgrave: Fashioning Art from Paper. Bowles' floral still lifes are inspired by Old Master Dutch artists, and her dramatic 'force fields' speak to the importance of textiles in her aesthetic.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website